Evolution Flashcards
Evidence of evolution I evidence of evolution II the selection process I the selection process II origins of species
what is the definition of evolution
descent with modification
what is the plural of genus
genera
what is palaeontology
the study of fossils
what is an adaptation
inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments
what is natural selection
a process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits
the favourable traits are seen at a higher frequency in future generations
what is artificial selection
the process where humans select and breed organisms with desired traits
TRUE/FALSE individuals evolve
FALSE the population evolves over time
TRUE/FALSE evolution by natural selection can only occur when the individuals in the population differ in that trait
TRUE if all the individuals in a population were genetically identical for a trait then evolution by natural selection cannot occur
TRUE/FALSE a trait that is favourable in one place may be useless in another place
TRUE the traits favoured depends on the organisms environment
what is an example of ongoing evolution that dramatically effects humans
the evolution of drug resistant pathogens
how do resistant strains of bacteria emerge
some penicillin strains disrupt the cell wall of bacteria by deactivating their enzymes
bacteria became able to synthesise their cell walls using a different bacteria that penicillin couldn’t attack
these bacteria reproduced at higher rate compared to other bacteria and the resistant individuals become increasingly more common
how can bacteria become resistant to antibiotics so quickly
they can proliferate quickly and can exchange genetic material with members of their own species and other species (a resistant bacteria can pass the resistant gene to other bacteria making them resistant too)
natural selection is a process of ………………., not a creative mechanism
editing
a drug does not create a resistant pathogen it selects for resistant individuals that are already present in the population
what is homology
similarity resulting from common ancestry
what are homologous structures
e.g. the underlying skeletons of arms, forelegs, flippers
these structures are shared due to a presence in their common ancestor
how else can anatomical homologies be compared apart from comparing what is visible in adult organisms
we can compare early development of different organisms
what two structures do all vertebrate embryos have at some stage in their development
a tail behind the anus
pharyngeal aches
both of these develop into different structures in different species and can have very different functions
what are vestigial structures
leftover structures of marginal or no importance to the organism that served a function in the organisms ancestor
e. g. vestiges of leg bones in snakes
e. g. eye remnants in blind species
what molecular similarities suggest that all species descended from common ancestors
they all use the same genetic code and some genes have the same functions in different species
what is an evolutionary tree
a diagram that represents evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms
what is convergent evolution
the independent evolution of similar features in different lineages
resemblance due to convergent evolution is referred to as ……………. instead of homologous
analogous
what is the difference between analogous and homologous
analogous features - similar function but no common ancestry
homologous features - common ancestry but not necessarily a similar function
where does the evidence of evolution come from
taxonomy
comparative anatomy
fossils and geology
biogeography
what is biogeography
the study of the geographic distribution of species
what does it mean if a plant or animal species is endemic
they are found nowhere else in the world
how do we categorise organisms
by comparing them with potential close relatives
what is phylogeny
the evolutionary history of a species or a group of species (phylogenetic tree)
what is systematics
a discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships
what is taxonomy
the study of naming and classification of organisms
what is a binomial
the 2 part Latin name of an organism
what is the first part of the binomial
the name of the genus
what is the second part of the binomial
the specific epithet and is unique for each species in a genus
what is the order of classification from specific to non specific
species genus family order class phylum kingdom domain
what is a taxon
the named taxonomic unit and any level of the hierarchy
e.g. panthera is the taxon of a leopard at genus level
what does a branch point in a phylogenetic tree represent
the common ancestor of two evolutional lineages diverging from it
what are sister taxa
groups of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor that is not shared by any other group
the members of a sister taxa are each others closest relatives
what does the root of a phylogenetic tree represent
the most recent common ancestor of all the of all the taxa in the tree
what data can systematists use to infer phylogeny
morphology
genes
biochemistry
when does convergent evolution occur
when similar environmental pressures and natural selection produce similar adaptations (analogs) in organisms from different evolutionary lineages
the more complex the two similar structures when comparing organisms the more likely the evolution was convergent/divergent
divergent - they shared a common ancestor
what are molecular homoplasies
coincidental matches in the DNA of two organisms
if more than 25% of DNA bases match it is likely that the organisms are homologous/analogous
homologous
what is cladistics
an approach to systematics in which organisms are placed into groups called clades based primarily on common descent
what is a clade
a group of species that includes an ancestral species of all its descendants
a clade is equivalent to a monophyletic group
what is a paraphyletic group
consists of ancestral species and some but no all of its descendants
what is a polyphyletic group
includes distantly related species but does not include their most recent ancestor
for mammals, the backbone is what
a shared ancestral character - a character that originated in the ancestor of the taxo
for mammals, hair is what
a shared derived character - an evolutionary novelty unique to a clade
what is an outgroup
a species or group of species from an evolutionary lineage that is closely related but not part of the group of species being studied
what is the ingroup
the group of species being studied
what is the principal of maximum parsimony
the simplest explanation that is consistent with the facts
what is the principal of maximum likelihood
identifies the tree most likely to have produced a given set of data based on probability
what 2 principle need to be used when creating a phylogenetic tree
maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood
what are gene families
groups of related genes within an organisms genome
what are the two types of homologous genes
orthologous and paralogous
what do orthologous genes result from
Orthologous genes are homologous genes that diverged after evolution gives rise to different species, an event known as speciation.
The genes generally maintain a similar function to that of the ancestral gene that they evolved from
e.g. cytochrome c has the same function in humans and dogs
what do paralogous genes result from
Paralogous genes are homologous genes that have diverged within one species. Unlike orthologous genes, a paralogous gene is a new gene that holds a new function. These genes arise during gene duplication where one copy of the gene receives a mutation that gives rise to a new gene with a new function, though the function is often related to the role of the ancestral gene.
e.g. this is how all the different olfactory receptor genes arose
what is a molecular clock
an approach for measuring the absolute time of evolutionary changed based on the observation that some genes appear to evolve at constant rates
what causes the difference in the speed that clock like mutations occur
the more neutral mutations the faster the change in the gene
what are the 3 domains
bacteria
archaea
eukaryotes
what is horizontal gene transfer
genes are transferred from one genome to another though different mechanisms
what is gradualism
profound changes can be the result of small changes over long periods of time
what is catastrophism
recurrent catastrophic events causing widespread extinction and resulting in sharp boundaries between fossil areas
what is Uniformitarism
the same processes seen today that also acted in the past
what are the 5 causes of evolution
natural selection non random mating genetic drift dene flow mutation
for natural selection to occur what 3 conditions must be fulfilled
variation differential selection
inheritance
what is non-random mating/sexual selection
individuals with particular traits are more likely to mate
what is genetic drift
random changes in the frequency of traits due to chance factors
e.g. the founder effect and the bottleneck effect
what is the founder effect
A small group establishes a new population with a different gene pool
what is the bottleneck effect
A small fraction of the population survives that is no longer representative of the original population
what is gene flow
changes due to movement from one place to another
Gene flow is the transfer of alleles from one population to another population through immigration of individuals
how does natural selection work
- Organisms differ from one another i.e. there is variation
- These differences are heritable i.e. passed from generation to generation
- Many more organisms are born than survive and reproduce (mortality)
- Therefore, any variation that makes one offspring more successful than another will have a greater chance of being past to the next generation (survival of the fittest)
what is microevolution
small scale evolution - a change in allele frequencies in a population over generations