Evolution Flashcards
A group of organisms that share SIMILAR characteristics and CAN REPRODUCE among themselves to produce fertile offspring.
species
Many characteristics of a species are inherited when they pass from parent to offspring.
Descent
Change in inherited characteristics over time (million years) is called ________
evolution
In 1809, he suggested that characteristics or traits, developed during a parent organism’s lifetime are inherited by its offspring.
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
The hypothesis that suggested that its offspring inherit characteristics or traits, developed during a parent organism’s lifetime.
Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
Charles Darwin recorded observations about the plants and animals he saw on the South American coast.
December 1831
What is the name of the island where Darwin studied the diversity of living things?
Galapagos Island
How many species of finches did Darwin observe on the Galapagos Islands?
13
Proponent of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
Charles Darwin
Organisms with traits best to their environment are more likely to survive & reproduce.
Natural Selection
Characteristics na ginagawa ng mga organism para makasurvive.
e.g. giraffes’ long necks
Helpful Variations
All of the individuals of a species living in the same area & that can interbreed to produce offspring.
Population
An inherited trait that makes an individual different from other members of its species.
Variation
What can variation result to?
Permanent changes or mutations in an organism’s genes
Any variation that makes an organism better suited to its environment.
Adaptation
Example of adaptation
Camouflage
The model that describes evolution as a slow, ongoing process by which one species changes to a new species.
Gradualism
Rapid evolution comes about when the mutation of a few genes results in the appearance of a new species over a relatively short period of time; This model can occur over a few thousand or million years and sometimes even faster.
Punctuated Equilibrium
The antibiotic penicillin came from _______
Penicillium
It is the remains, an imprint, or a trace of a prehistoric organism.
Fossil
Where are most fossils found?
Sedimentary Rocks
Formed when layers of sand, silt, clay, or mud are compacted & cemented together, or when minerals are deposited from a solution.
Sedimentary Rock
Examples of Sedimentary Rock
limestone, sandstone, shale
Fossils are found more often in _______ than in any kind of sedimentary rock
limestone
What are the 2 basic methods used alone or together to estimate the ages of rocks and fossils?
Relative Dating & Radiometric Dating
Based on the idea that in undisturbed areas, younger rock layers are deposited on top of older rock layers; provides only an ESTIMATE of a fossil’s age by comparing the ages of rock layers found above & below the fossil layer.
Relative Dating
More accurate estimate of the ages of a rock layer by using radioactive elements; Scientists can estimate the age of a rock by comparing the amount of radioactive elements with the amount of nonradioactive elements in the rock; does not always produce exact results because the original amount of radioactive elements in the rock can never be determined for certain.
Radiometric Dating
What do most fossils represent?
extinct organisms
Study of embryos and their development
embryology
earliest growth stage of an organism
embryo
Body parts that are similar in origin and structure and can also be similar in function. They often indicate that 2 or more species share common ancestors.
Homologous Structures
Structures that don’t seem to have a function (e.g. human appendix)
Vestigial Structures
Molecule that controls heredity and directs the development of every organism; found in genes that make up the chromosomes
DNA
Humans, monkeys, and apes belong to the group of mammals known as the ______; all _______ have opposable thumbs, binocular vision, and flexible shoulders that allow arms to rotate
Primates
Primates are divided into 2 groups
strepsirhines & haplorhines
Includes lemurs & tarsiers
Strepshirhines
Includes monkeys, apes, and humans
Haplorhines
human-like primates that eat both meat and plants, and walked upright on 2 legs; they share the same characteristics with gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees but a larger brain separated them from the apes
hominids
One of the oldest hominids discovered
Australopithecus
An almost-complete skeleton of Australopithecus was found in Northern Africa in 1974. This hominid fossil was called ____ & had a small brain but is though to have walked upright.
Lucy
A hominid fossil that was more like present-day humans than Australopithecus
Homo Habilis
The hominid was named Homo Habilis meaning “____ ___” because simple stone tools were found near him.
hand man
What is the estimated age of Homo Habilis?
1.5 to 2 million years old
Based upon many fossil comparisons, scientists have suggested that Homo Habilis gave rise to another species called ____ _______, about 1.6 million years ago. This hominid has a larger brain than Homo Habilis and was known to have traveled from Africa to Southeast Asia, China, & possibly Europe.
Homo Erectus
Thought to be ancestors of humans because they had larger brains & more humanlike features than Australopithecus
Homo Habilis & Homo Erectus
Homo Sapiens evolved _________
400,000 years ago
By about 125,000 years ago, 2 early human groups probably lived at the same time in parts of Africa and Europe
Neanderthals & Cro-Magnon humans
Short, heavy bodies with thick bones, small
chins, and heavy brow ridges; family groups lived in caves and used well-made stone tools to hunt large animals; probably are not direct ancestors of
modern humans, but represent a side branch
of human evolution
Neanderthals
Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record about ______
30,000 years ago
Standing about 1.6 m to 1.7 m tall, their physical appearance was almost the same as that of modern humans; they lived in caves, made stone carvings, and buried their dead
Cro-Magnon Humans
Cro-Magnon fossils have been found in ______, ____, and ________ and date from about 10,000 to about 40,000 years in age
Europe, Asia, and Australia
Where was the oldest recorded art of Cro-Magnon humans being found painted bison, horses, and people carrying spears?
walls of caves in France
