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Evolution Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Evolution

A
  • The gradual development and change of heritable traits (allele frequencies) within a population over time
  • Evolution increases biodiversity
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2
Q

Evidence of evolution

A

Fossils
Biogeographical
Embrological
Comparative anatomy
comparative biochemical
molecular biology

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3
Q

Paleontology

A

Study of fossils

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4
Q

What are the two types of fossils?

A

1) Actual remains of the animal, petrification
2) Traces of animal like footprints, molds, casts (ichnofossils)

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5
Q

Petrification

A

The process by which living organisms turn into fossils due to the body being buried under layers of sediment - minerals slowly seep into the body and replaces organic material to get a hardened corpse

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6
Q

Evolution: fossils

A

Allows us to see the development (anatomical changes) of species through time by comparing deepest (oldest) fossils to shallowest (youngest) fossils

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7
Q

evolution: biogeography

A

Evidence explains the spread of different species throughout the world
Pangea (supercontinent) separated into 7 different continents and caused living organisms to separate - as their environment changed evolution made it so that the organisms adapt to their new habitats

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8
Q

Evolution: embryology

A

Embryological similarities observed during development stage in related species
Example: all chordates have gill slits at some point in development

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9
Q

evolution: comparative anatomy

A
  • Compares different body parts of different animals that contribute to the identification of an evolutionary relationship
  • Three types: homologous, analogous and vestigial structures
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10
Q

Homologous structures

A
  • Structures that may or may not perform the same function but are derived from a common ancestor
  • Example: forearm of birds and humans
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11
Q

Analogous structures

A

Structures that have the same function but are not derived from common ancestors
Example: bird wings and bat wings

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12
Q

Vestigial structures

A

Structures that exist, but do not serve a purpose in the organism but are homologous to functional structures in other organisms
Example: ostrich wings are homologous to wings of eagles, ostrich do not use them to fly but eagles do

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13
Q

evolution: molecular biology

A
  • Method that allows for comparison of nucleotide and amino acid sequences of DNA and proteins from different species
  • Able to see conserved DNA regions across species when comparing DNA sequences (ex: chimpanzees have ~98% similarity with humans)
  • amino acids in the protein cytochrom C are often compared
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14
Q

Catastrophism

A

Baron Cuvier proposed catastrophism through observing fossil patterns
Proposed that sudden catastrophes happened spontaneously throughout history caused mass extinction of species
Different populations shaped by what catastrophes had occurred and the random organisms that survived
After catastrophe, landscape changed and new organisms populated the area

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15
Q

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

A

Proposed two theories: use and disuse, and inheritance of acquired traits

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16
Q

Use and disuse theory

A

The most used a body part is, the more it will develop and the less used a body part is, the more it will weaken
Example: a giraffes neck gets longer the more they stretch it to use it, and the giraffe will give birth to offsprings with long necks
This theory is incorrect

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17
Q

Theory of inheritance of acquired traits

A

Whatever characteristic an organism acquires throughout its life, it will be passed onto its offspring
This theory is incorrect: the changes are not changing the DNA within an organism and therefore will not be a passed on

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18
Q

Natural selection theory

A

Proposed by Charles Darwin
Inspired by thomas malthus’ theory of population growth
Unchecked population growth would outgrow available resources which results in Malthusian catastrophe: manny members of population die of starvation, remaining forced to return to basic survival

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19
Q

What are the requirements for natural selection?

A

1) There is more demand than supply
2) There is a difference (variation) in the level of fitness
3) Traits must be heritable
4) Variation of traits must be significant to reproduction and/or survival

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20
Q

Stabilizing selection

A

Mainstream (average) is favored and extremes are selected against
Example: average newborn weight
Diagram follows a stranded bell curve

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21
Q

Directional selection

A
  • One extreme is favored (population evolves to favor traits in one direction)
  • Example: giraffes with longer necks are able to survive due to ability to get more food from tall trees
  • industrial selection: industrial pollution causes the selection of dark-colored moths
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22
Q

Disruptive selection

A

Extremes are favored, mainstream traits are not
Example: black shelled snails thrive in high vegetation areas, while the white shelled snails thrive in low vegetation areas

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23
Q

Sexual selection

A
  • Non-random mating between a male and a female
  • Females favor high quality partners to boost quality of offsprings (limited capacity to reproduce) while males prefer high quantity of partners to increase the number of offsprings
  • Traits selected for may be favorable for reproduction but not for survival
  • Example: male peacock feathers attract females, but also attract predators
24
Q

Requirements for a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium:

A

(Large Random M&M)
Large populations: minimizes effects of genetic drift (random increase or decrease in allele frequencies)
Random mating: individuals do not seek a particular type of individual to mate with wgucg decreases the chance of any allele from changing in frequency
No mutation: prevents new alleles to be introduced to the population
No natural selection: the environment is not impacting allele frequencies and so traits are neutral
No migration: (aka no gene flow) no movement of genes in or out of population (an isolated population has no gene flow)

25
Q

what does the Hardy-Weinberg formula calculate?

A

Calculates generic frequency during genetic equilibrium (no change in gene frequencies aka no evolution)

26
Q

Microevolution

A
  • changes in allele frequencies that occur within a population over generations
  • favorable genes increase, unfavorable genes decrease
  • due to mutation, gene flow, gene drift, nonrandom mating, and natural selection
27
Q

Allele frequencies

A

Indicate how often you find certain allele in a population

28
Q

Do genes that result in traits being best suited for the environment increase or decrease gene frequency?

Do genes that result in traits not being suited for the environment increase or decrease gene frequency?

A

Increase
Decrease

29
Q

Sources of genetic variation:

A

1) mutation
2) sexual reproduction
3) balanced polymorphism: heterozygote advantage, hybrid vigor, minority advantage
4) diploidy
5) outbreeding
6) neutral variation
7) geographic variation

30
Q

Genetic variations: mutations

A

Must not be fatal
Mutations are a way to introduce alleles into a population

31
Q

Genetic variation: sexual reproduction

A
  • Creates diversity in three ways: crossing over, independent assortment and random joining of gametes
  • allows for the removal of deletatrious alleles
32
Q

Balanced polymorphism

A

Different phenotypes within population members can be maintained through different advantages:
- heterozygote advantage: the heterozygote form is better suited for the environment than both homozygote forms —> two parents produce an offspring that is more fit than either of them
- Minority advantage: rare phenotypes offer higher fitness than common phenotypes —> cycle between high and low frequencies (ex: advantages against hunters search image)
- hybrid advantage: hybrid (breeding between two different strains of organisms), offspring is usually superior due to combination of different genes
- neutral variations: variations passed down that do not cause benefits or harm to the organism that may come in handy if the environment changes

33
Q

Genetic variation: Polyploidy

A

Beneficial because the dominant allele can mask the affect of the recessive allele (ex: diploid organisms with 2 alleles for each gene
More variety and preservation of different alleles in the genome (ex: plants are polyploid, they have multiple alleles for a gene)

34
Q

Causes of microevolution:

A

(Opposite of Large Random M&M)
1) genetic drift
2) non-random mating
3) mutations
4) natural selection
5) gene flow

35
Q

Genetic drift

A
  • A factor causing microevolution
  • Change in allele frequencies in a gene pool by chance (random increase or decrease in allele frequency)
  • Larger effects on smaller populations
  • 2 types: bottleneck and founder
36
Q

Bottleneck effect

A
  • occurs when the population undergoes a dramatic decrease in size due to a natural catastrophes or other disaster
  • population is vulnerable to genetic drift and gene pool is much smaller
  • some alleles may be lost
37
Q

Founder effect

A
  • when some individuals migrate away from population and settle in new location
  • smaller gene pool
  • Successive generations’ genetic makeup will come from original founders (unique from the original population before migration)
38
Q

Microevolution: non-random mating

A
  • Individual chooses who they want to mate with (sexual selection) based on certain traits
  • Certain traits are favored over other —> increase in allele frequency
  • Outbreeding: breeding with individuals which no distinct family ties
  • Inbreeding: breeding with relatives
  • sexual selection: females choose males based on superior taits
39
Q

Microevolution: mutation

A

These heritable changes in DNA have varying effects
Some mutations go into a dormant phase until the environment changes and the mutation suddenly becomes favorable

40
Q

Microevolution: natural selection

A

An increase or decrease in allele frequency due adaptations to the environment

41
Q

Microevolution: gene flow

A
  • The process of moving allele (introducing/removig) between populations through individuals migration which leads to mixing of variations
42
Q

Mullerian mimicry

A

When two different poisonous species that have a common predator evolve to resemble each other- makes it easier for the predator to learn to avoid these species

43
Q

Sympatric speciation

A

Occurs without the presence of a geographical barrier
Achieved in three ways: balanced polymorphism, polyploidy and hybridization

44
Q

Hardy-Weinberg equations:

A
  • p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1 –> all individuals sum to 100%
  • p + q = 1 –> all alleles sum to 100%

both equations must equal 1 to be in hardy-wenberg equilibrium

45
Q

speciation:

A
  • formation of new species
  • occurs when gene flow is intertupted between 2 sections of a population
46
Q

allopatric speciation

A
  • occurs when the population is divided by a geographical barrier
  • results in prevention of interbreeding between the two populations causing the gene pool to diverge
  • population diverges due to natural selection, mutation and geneticc drift
  • no interbreeding = new species
47
Q

divergent evolution

A
  • species originate from common ancestor but become different over time as a result of speciation
48
Q

convergent (homoplasy) evolution

A
  • unreleated species evolve to share similar trairs due to adapting to similar environments (analogous structures)
49
Q

parallel evolution

A
  • species that share a common ancestor make similar evolutionary changes after their divergene from the common ancestor
50
Q

coevolution

A
  • two species impart selective pressure on each other
  • each causes the other to evolve, resulting in the evolution of both
  • ex: hummingbirds and flowers, predetor and prey
51
Q

evolution: comparative biochemistry

A
  • Able to see common conserved pathways in related species (ex: Krebs cycle and ETC are conserved in all eukaryotes
52
Q

monophyletic

A
  • the ancestral species and all its descendants
53
Q

paraphyletic

A
  • the ancestral species and some of its descendants
54
Q

polyphyletic

A
  • common ancestor of its members is not a part of the group
55
Q

synapomorphies

A
  • shared traits derived from an evolutionary ancestor common to all members of a group
56
Q

analogous traits are an example of ________ evolution

A

convergent

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