Evolution Flashcards
What is the theory of evolution?
More than 3 billion years ago, life on Earth began as simple organisms from which all the more complex organisms evolved
How are plants similar?
They make their own food by photosynthesis and are fixed into the ground
How are animals similar?
Animals move and cannot make their own food
What is evolutionary relationships?
How all living things are related
What are ecological relationships?
How all living things interact with each other
What is natural selection?
Charles Darwin came up with the idea;
- Individuals within a species show variation because of the difference in their genes
- Individuals with characteristics that make them better adapted to the environment have a better chance of survival as so are more likely to breed
- The genes that are responsible for the useful characteristics will be passed on to the next generation
What does evolution occur from?
Mutations
What are mutations?
Change in an organisms DNA
Why are mutations beneficial?
Produce a useful characteristic that may give an organism a better chance at survival and reproducing, and therefore passed onto the next generation
Why are mutations sometimes not beneficial?
Can make bacteria became resistant to antibiotics
Why did people not believe Darwin?
- His theory went against religious beliefs about how life on earth developed, people believed it was God
- Darwin couldn’t give a good explanation for why the new and useful characteristics appeared
- Not enough evidence to convince many scientists
What was Larmacks theory?
If a characteristic was used a lot by an organism then it would be more developed during its lifetime and then passed onto next generation, e.g.rabbit used its legs to run and then it’s legs would get longer
