Evolution Flashcards
Define evolution.
The process of organisms developing, change in frequency of alleles in a population
Who was responsible for adopting the theory of evolution?
Charles darwin
Describe the Galapagos Islands (why is life there so diverse?)
A bunch of small islands located off the coast of ecuador. Each island is different so the organisms on each island have evolved to be adapted to each environment.
Why were Darwin’s ideas so controversial at the time?
People thought the earth was a few thousand years old and a supreme being put things on earth and never changed
What did James Hutton propose?
Deep time; earth has been slowly changing over time
What did Charles Lyell propose?
Geological processes shaped earth and are still shaping earth today
How did the above scientists help shape Darwin’s theory?
They helped people realize that earth was more than a few thousand years old, and that if the landscape could change then living things would change as well
Why do we study Lamarck’s ideas if they are flawed?
Because he got people to consider that organisms can change
Describe struggle for existence.
How well an organism is adapted to its environment to survive
Briefly describe what natural selection is.
Populations change over time because certain traits our inherited throughout the population and lead to more offspring and changes in the population
Other than direct observation, what are other pieces of evidence supporting evolution?
Fossils, homologous and analogous structures, biogeography, early embryonic similarities
What are homologous structures? Give an example.
Structures on related organisms but have different purposes; hand of human, wing of bat, whale flipper
What are analogous structures? Give an example.
Structures on unrelated organisms that have the same function; bee wing, bird wing
What are vestigial organs? Give 3 examples (what they used to do and why we don’t need them anymore). Why do we still have vestigial organs today if they are not useful anymore?
Vestigial organs are organs that we have in our body that we do not use anymore. We still have them because they are not harming our fitness. Examples; wisdom teeth, tailbone, goosebumps
What is convergent evolution? Give an example.
Organisms are not related and in 2 different areas of the world, but have similar environmental conditions so evolve the same
