Evolution Flashcards
1
Q
Are humans special?
A
- use of tools - gorillas and honey, dolphins with sponges
- art - elephants can paint, birds make nests look aesthetically pleasing to attract a mate
- farming - leafcutter ants feed termites to make them grow, jellyfish grow algae
- morality - dogs
- language - waggle dance
2
Q
Trait
A
any aspect of an organism that is heritable
3
Q
Communication modes
A
- olfactory
- auditory
- visual
- tactile
- electrical
4
Q
Ways to communicate
A
- vocal communication
- stridulation - rubbing together body parts
5
Q
Descent with modification
A
- Gregory Mendel
- discovered hereditary principals
- chromosome is a packaged structure of DNA
- gene - a discrete unit, a factor of inheritance
- genes can be turned on or off
6
Q
Natural selection
A
- Charles Darwin
- variation causes some individuals to survive, and others to reproduce
- slow, gradual and a non-random process
- natural selection is predictable
- leads to an underlying genotype
- e.g. English peppered moths, spotted guppies, bird
7
Q
Clade
A
- a group of species that descended from a common ancestor
- a taxonomic group of species with a common ancestor
- some organisms have traits evolved from different ancestors
8
Q
Mutations
A
- permanent changes in a DNA sequence
- rate influences by environmental factors
- specific mutations are independent of environment
- gene flow
- gene shuffling
- non-random mating
9
Q
Processes introducing variation
A
- mutation
- non-random mating - traits chosen as mates
- gene flow - aka. migration
- gene reshuffling - introducing a new gene
10
Q
Processes reducing variation
A
- natural selection
- genetic drift
11
Q
Pangenesis
A
- what we do in our life changes our hereditary particles
- modified particles travel in our blood to our reproductive organs/cells, so can therefore be inherited by offspring
12
Q
Hayes (1951)
A
- Vicki is a chimp
- developed almost like a human but no vocal communication
13
Q
Tomasello (1999)
A
- TOM - mirror recognition
- gaze detection
- seeing is knowing
