Evolution Flashcards
Evolution
● Change in allelic frequencies in a population
Radiometric dating
● Based on the dcay of radioactive isotopes and half-life
● However, there is inadquate rock or fossils available to measure
Paleomagnetic dating
● Uses the fact that Earth’s magnetic poles shift and sometimes even reverse
● These changes are recorded in rock layers
Fossil record
● Reveals the existence of species that have become extinct or have evolved into other species
● Radiometric dating and half-life are used to measure the age of fossils
Comparative anatomy
● The study of different structures contributes to scientists’ understanding of the evolution of anatomical structures and of evolutionary relationships
Homologous structures
● Have a common origin and reflect a common ancestry
● The function might vary
● Ex) Wing of a bat, the lateral fin of a whale, and hte human arm
Analogous structures
● Serve the same function
● Similarity is superficial and reflects an adaptation to similar environments, not descnet from a recent common ancestor
● Ex) Bat’s wing and a fly’s wing
Vestigial structures
● Evidence that structures have evolved
● Ex) appendix–a vestige of a structure needed when human ancestors ate a very different diet
Comparative biochemiestry
● Organisms that have a common ancestor will have common biochemical pathways
● The more closely related the organisms are to each other, the more similar their biochemistry is
Comparative embryology
● Closely related organisms go through similar stages in their embryonic development
● Ex) All vertebrate embryos go through a stage in which they have gill pouches on the sides of hteir throats
- In fish, the gill pouches develop into gills
- In mammals, they develop into eustachian tubes in the ears
Molecular biology
● Since all aerobic organisms contain cells that carry out aerobic cell respiration, they all contain the polypeptide cytochrome c
● A comparison of the amino acid sequence of cytochrome c among diferent organisms hows which organisms are most closely related
● The cytochrome c in human cells is almost idntical to that of our closest relatives, the chimpanzee and gorilla, but differs from that of a pig
Biogeography
● According to the theory of plate tectonics, continents and oceans rest on giant plates of the Earth’s crust that float on top of the hot mantle
Continental drift
● The slow, continuous movement of the plates
● Causes mountains to form as plates collide
Convection currents
● Responsible for continental drift
Pangea
Supercontinent that include all the land masses together
Aristotle
● Spoke for the ancient worl with his theory of Scala Natura
Scala Natura
● All life-forms can be arranged on a ladder of increasing complexity, each with its own allotted rung
● The species are permaent and do not evolve
● Humans are at the pinnacle of this ladder of increasing complexity
Carolus Linnaeus/Carl von Linne
● Specialized in taxonomy
● Belived that scientists should study life and htat a classification system would reveal a divine plan
● Developed the naming system binomail nomenclature
Cuvier
● Studied fossils and realized that each stratum of earth is characterized by different fossils
● Belived that a series of catastrophes was responsible for the changes in the organisms on earth and was a strong opponent of evolution
James Hutton
● One of the most influential geologists of his day
● Published his theory of gradualism
Gradualism
● Stated that the earth had been molded, not by sudden, violent events, but by slow, gradual change
● They were based on the idea that the earth had a very long history and that change is the normal course of events
Lyell
● Stated that geological change results from slow, continuous actions
● His text, Principles of Geology, was a great influence on Darwin
Lamarck
● Ideas of inheritance of acquired characteristics and use and disuse
Inheritance of acquired characteristics/use and disuse
● Individual organisms change in response to their environment
● The giraffe developed a long neck because it ate leaves of hte tall acacia tree for nourishment and had to stretch to reach them
● Then animals stretched their necks and passed the acquired trait of an elongated neck onto their offspring
Wallace
● Published an essay discussing the process of natural selection identical to Darwin’s
● Many people credit Wallace, along with Darwin, for hte theory of natural selection
Darwin
● Worked out his theory of natural selection or descent with modification as the mechasniism for how populations evolve
Darwin’s theory of natural selection
● Generally states that natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution
● It acts on phenotypic variation in populations
Selective advantage
● Phenotype or traits that allow the organism to become more fit in the environemnt comparin to individuals in the same population
● Often results in directional selection
Directional selection
● One phenotype replaces another in the genepool
● One extreme end is favoured
● Can produce raid shifts in allelic frequencies
Stabilizing selection
● Sometimes called purifying selection
● Eliminates the extremes and favors the more common intermediate forms
● Many mutant forms are weeded out in this way
Disruptive/diversifying selection
● Increases the extreme types in a population at the expense of intermediate forms
● May result in balanced polymorphism
Balanced polymorphism
● The presence of two or more phenotypically distinct forms of a tait in a single popualtion of a species
● Each morph is better adapted in a different area, but both varieties continue to exist
Sexual selection
● Selection based on variation in secondary sexual characcteristics related to competing for and attracting mates
Sexual dimorphism
Differences in appearance between males and females
Artificial selection
● Humans breed plants and animals by seeking inidividuals with desired traits as breeding stock
- Racehorses are bred for speed, and laying hens are bred to produce more and larger eggs
Geographic variation
● Two different varieties of a species continue to exist in two different regions
North-south cline
● The variation in appearance is due to differences in northern and southern environments
● A type of geographic variation
Cline
Graded variation in the phenotype of an organism
Sexual reproduction
● Provids variation due to the shuffling and recombination of alleles during meiosis and fertilization
- Independne tassortment of chromosomes
- Crossing over
- Random fertilization
Independent assortment of chromomes
● During metaphase I
● eulsts in the recombination of unlinked genes
Corssing over
● Exchange of genetic material of homologous chromoosmes and occurs during meiosis I
● Produces individual chromosomes that combine genes inherited from two parents
● In human, two ro three crossover events occur per homologous pair
Random fertilization
● One ovum by one sperm out of millions results in enormous variety among the offspring
Outbreeding
● Mating of organisms within one species that are not closely related
● opposite of inbreeding–mating of closely related individuals
● Maintinas both variation within a species and a strong gene pool
Diploidy
● The 2n condition
● Maintinas nad hides a huge pool of alleles that may be harmful in teh present environment but that could be advantageous when conditions change in the future
Heterozygote advantage
● Preserves multiple alleles in a population
● Phenomenon in which the hybrid individual is selected for because it has greater reproductivve success
● The hybrids are sometimes better adapted than the homozygotes
● It is defined in terms of genotype not phenotype
Frequency-Dependnent selection
● aka minority advantage
● This acts to decrease the frequency of the more common phenotypes and increase hte frequency of the less common ones