evolution Flashcards
Who is Charles Darwin
Founder of evolutionary theory. Was revolutionary to his time confronting religious beliefs that ‘humans were placed upon the earth as perfect in their way’. Suffered with many mental health issues. born in a wealthy family of doctors and he tried being one but didn’t do it. Had many children with his 2nd cousin most were disabled and helped him with his research. born 1809
The origin of species book
The manuscript was turned into a book of his findings, lead to the revolution of evolution. Wasn’t well received by the large religious population. In terms of science, was mostly collection of ideas with hardly any physical evidence to explain.
Piece of evidence of evolution
Fossils- states that simple life forms gradually evolved into more complex ones. Anatomy- features that share similar physical features bcs the feature was present in a. common ancestor. Genetically- similar features in DNA
Animal remains inside amber/ice
Age of fossils can be found through carbon dating, which essentially takes a segment of the fossil and measures how the carbon atoms have changed over time.
Who’s is Lucy
She was the first Australopithecus afaransis skeleton found, even though it’s only 40% complete. Discovered in 1974. Ancestor which evolved into the homo genus lineage, then onto Homo sapiens of which we are today. She has a real ,fixture of ape and human features and upright at 3.5 ft and later discoveries found males to be much larger. We know that Lucy was fully grown because of her wisdom teeth and her skull was fully eloped (fused together).
Pleistocene
It is environment of evolutionary adaption. This is the majority of human evolution occurred- we become bipedal and our behaviour minds had to change in order to adapt and ensure survival. 2.6 Million years ago 10,000 years ago- environment of evolutionary adaptation we live I the holocene- when the human brain evolved.
The genome lag
Because human evolution occurred predominantly in the Pleistocene, there is this concept known as the genome lag. This is because our minds are still shaped to the EEA. Takes thousands of years of evolutionary pressure o change the human genome. But the world changes quickly and we can’t keep up
Darwins problem- sexual selection
Darwin noticed characteristics continue to exist even if threatened the organisms survival. He understood that they stay present due to an advantage which is they made an individual attractive to a potential mate.
Evolutionary sanders and Phenotypic trait
A spandrel is everyday terms is the byproduct of producing arc structures. Over time, people started to decorate these areas. Relating to evolution its used as an analogy to explain how traits and behaviours don’t have a clear used have evolved. Defined as phenotypic trait that is the by product of an evolutionary function rather than the direct product the function itself. eg the chin is a spandrel as a result of the face and jaw moving forward over time
Buss et al 1992 sex differences in jealousy
evolution, physiology and psychology
Aims- find out whether males and females experience different form of jealousy in response to thoughts of infidelity
Procedure- male and female participants were asked to think of a current of former partner becoming involved with someone else. Which would be more upsetting, forming a deep emotional attachment with them or have passionate sex with them. 60 % men were more distressed by sex scenario. 83% women were more distressed with the emotional scenario.
‘Survival of the fittest’ refers to
Natural selection selects the genes giving rise to characteristics that promote survival and reproduction so they are retained in the population. Its also the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring bcs more likely to live
