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Evolution Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What did Darwin conclude was a better indication of relationships among organisms than similarity of environment?

A

Geographic Proximity

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2
Q

What did the book “Principles of Geology” by Charles Lyell, and Darwin’s own witnessing of an earthquake that raised part of the coastline, tell him about the age of Earth?

A

Earth is billions of years old

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3
Q

What was Darwin’s phrase for “Evolution”, which means that present-day species are the descendants of ancient ancestors that they still resemble in some way, but over time, differences gradually accumulated?

A

Descent with Modification

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4
Q

What did Darwin propose as the mechanism of evolution, which states that individuals with certain traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than individuals who do not have those traits?

A

Natural Selection

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5
Q

What did descendants accumulate over millions of years that fit them to their environment and thus changed them into the species we see today?

A

Adaptations

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6
Q

What is the general term for a widely accepted explanatory idea that is broader in scope than a hypothesis, generates new hypotheses, and is supported by a large body of evidence?

A

Theory

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7
Q

What is the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from present-day ones?

A

Evolution

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8
Q

What are the imprints or remains of organisms that lived in the past, show differences between past and present organisms, and show that many species have become extinct?

A

Fossils

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9
Q

What are layers of sedimentary rock, which have the youngest layers near the surface, called?

A

Strata

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10
Q

What do you call a scientist that studies fossils?

A

Paleontologist

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11
Q

What is the chronicle of evolution over millions of years of geologic time engraved in the order in which fossils appear in rock strata?

A

Fossil Record

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12
Q

What is similarity resulting from common ancestry known as?

A

Homology

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13
Q

What are anatomical similarities in different organisms that often have different functions but are structurally similar because of common ancestry?

A

Homologous structures

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14
Q

What is the study of the molecular basis of genes and gene expression called?

A

Molecular Biology

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15
Q

What was Darwin’s boldest hypothesis?

A

All life forms are related.

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16
Q

What are remnants of features that served important functions in the organism’s ancestor, but currently have little or no importance?

A

Vestigial Structures

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17
Q

What is a branching diagram that reflects a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms?

A

Evolutionary Tree

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18
Q

What is the name of the mechanism of evolution that Darwin proposed?

A

Natural Selection

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19
Q

What was Darwin’s greatest contribution to biology?

A

Darwin explained how life evolves.

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20
Q

What is the selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in the offspring?

A

Artificial Selection

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21
Q

What are the two essential components of artificial selection?

A

Variation and Heritability

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22
Q

What are the differences between individuals in a population?

A

Variation

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23
Q

What is the transmission of a trait from parent to offspring?

A

Heritability

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24
Q

What does overpopulation (production of more individuals than limited resources can support) lead to?

A

Struggle for existence

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25
Q

What is the consequence of individuals in a population struggling for existence?

A

Unequal reproduction

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26
Q

What is the essence of natural selection?

A

Unequal reproduction

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27
Q

What is the consequence of an individual having traits that allow them a greater ability to obtain food, or escape predators, or tolerate physical conditions?

A

That individual will survive and reproduce, and thus pass on their traits.

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28
Q

What evolves?

A

Populations evolve. Individuals do NOT evolve.

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29
Q

What can natural selection amplify or diminish?

A

Heritable traits, but NOT acquired traits.

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30
Q

What is the goal of evolution?

A

Evolution is not goal oriented.

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31
Q

What is an alternative version of a gene?

A

Allele

32
Q

Is evolution an editing process or a creative mechanism?

A

Editing process

33
Q

Does the invention of a new pesticide create pesticide-resistance alleles?

A

No. The alleles for pesticide resistance existed before the invention of the pesticide.

34
Q

Can natural selection favor traits that will be beneficial sometime in the future?

A

No. Natural selection edits the current traits based on the current environment.

35
Q

What 2 things cause the genetic variation that makes evolution possible?

A

Mutation and sexual reproduction

36
Q

What is a change in the genetic information encoded in the nucleotide sequence of DNA?

A

Mutation

37
Q

What is the ultimate source of the genetic variation that serves as raw material for evolution?

A

Mutation

38
Q

In what type of organisms does mutation quickly generate genetic variation, and why?

A

Prokaryotes because they multiply rapidly and are haploid.

39
Q

Why do mutations in plants and animals rarely affect genetic variation from one generation to the next?

A

Plants and animals have low mutation rates, long time spans between generations, and are diploid.

40
Q

For organisms that reproduce sexually, where does most of their genetic variation come from?

A

Each individual has a unique combination of alleles.

41
Q

What 3 mechanisms of sexual reproduction result in each individual having a unique combination of alleles?

A

Crossing over, Independent assortment, Random fertilization

42
Q

During meiosis, what independently assorts and when?

A

Homologous chromosomes during Metaphase I.

43
Q

What process allows pairs of homologous chromosomes, one set inherited from each parent, to trade some of their genes?

A

Crossing over.

44
Q

What is created by the random union of sperm and egg?

A

Zygote

45
Q

What does natural selection act on?

A

Individuals

46
Q

Do individuals evolve?

A

No, only populations evolve.

47
Q

What is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and can potentially interbreed?

A

Population

48
Q

How can we measure evolution?

A

As a change in the amount of a heritable trait in a population over a span of generations.

49
Q

What are all of the copies of every allele at every locus in all members of a population?

A

Gene pool

50
Q

What level of evolution measures the changes in the frequency of alleles in a population over a number of generations?

A

Microevolution

51
Q

What can be used to test whether a population is evolving?

A

The Hardy-Weinberg equation.

52
Q

What is the condition in which allele frequency remains constant in a population from generation to generation?

A

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

53
Q

What symbolizes the frequency of the dominant allele in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

p

54
Q

What symbolizes the frequency of the recessive allele in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

q

55
Q

p + q =

A

1

56
Q

What symbolizes the frequency of the homozygous dominant genotype in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

p2

57
Q

What symbolizes the frequency of the heterozygous genotype in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

2pq

58
Q

What symbolizes the frequency of the homozygous recessive genotype in the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

q2

59
Q

What is the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

A

p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1

60
Q

p2 + 2pq + q2 =

A

1

61
Q

What will happen to allele and genotype frequencies if a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

A

Remain constant generation after generation.

62
Q

What 5 conditions must be met for a population to stay in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

A

Very large population, no gene flow, no mutations, random mating, no natural selection.

63
Q

What are the 3 main causes of microevolution in a population of sexually reproducing organisms?

A

Natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.

64
Q

Why is mutation not one of the main causes of microevolution in a population of sexually reproducing organisms?

A

Too rare of an event. However, mutation can be a main cause of evolution in prokaryotes.

65
Q

Why is nonrandom mating not one of the main causes of microevolution in a population of sexually reproducing organisms?

A

Scientists have rarely seen this one without at least one of the other main causes.

66
Q

What is the process in which chance events can cause allele frequencies to fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to the next?

A

Genetic drift

67
Q

What size population is affected by chance events, i.e., genetic drift?

A

Small

68
Q

What produces a small population through the kill of most of the individuals (catastrophes, hunting, habitat destruction?

A

Bottleneck effect

69
Q

What produces a small population through a few individuals colonizing an island or other remote habitat?

A

Founder effect

70
Q

What is the process by which a population may gain or lose alleles when fertile individuals (or just gametes in the case of pollen) move into or out of a population?

A

Gene flow

71
Q

What is the only mechanism that leads to adaptive evolution?

A

Natural selection

72
Q

Natural selection is often described as survival of the fittest. Who are the fittest individuals in the context of evolution?

A

Those that leave the most offspring.

73
Q

What outcome of Natural Selection shifts the overall makeup of the population by acting against individuals at one of the phenotypic extremes?

A

Directional Selection

74
Q

What outcome of Natural Selection favors intermediate phenotypes, i.e. selects against both extremes?

A

Stabilizing Selection

75
Q

What outcome of Natural Selection favors both extremes, i.e. selects against intermediate phenotypes?

A

Disruptive Selection

Biology (13 decks)

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