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Evolution Test 1 > Evolution And Darwinian Natural Selection > Flashcards

Evolution And Darwinian Natural Selection Flashcards

0
Q

Microevolution

A

Small-scale changes seen within a population over time, monitoring populations allows observations of small scale change and elucidates the process

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1
Q

Evolution

A

Descent with modification, inherited changes in populations o organisms over time leading to differences among them, change in allele frequency in a population from one generation to the next

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2
Q

Macroevolution

A

Large-scale changes that lead to speciation or higher level diversification, living organisms provide evidence of dramatic change and establish patterns

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3
Q

Strong inference

A

A way do doing science, solves the single hypothesis problem of researcher bias

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4
Q

Fossil record

A

World-wide collection of fossils

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5
Q

Principle of superposition

A

Older fossils are lower down and younger layers on top have younger fossils/species

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6
Q

Relative dating

A

Uses principle of superposition, look at layers and say fossils farther down are older

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7
Q

Absolute dating

A

Use radioactive decay, radioactive isotopes that decay over time at a predicable constant rate from parent to daughter atoms, use half-life

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8
Q

Extinct

A

No longer alive, the species is entirely dead

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9
Q

Extant

A

Still living, members of the species are alive and reproducing

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10
Q

Law of succession

A
  1. Fossils are similar to other fossils above/below them in adjacent rock layers
  2. Fossils are also similar to living organisms in the same location more so than organisms in other locations
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11
Q

Transitional forms

A

Have characteristics that are intermediate between ancestral and modern groups

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12
Q

Homology

A

Similarity between species due to inheritance of traits from a shared common ancestor, can have similar or different functions, may not always be the most efficient design, can occur at the molecular level

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13
Q

Vestigial trait

A

Functionless or reduced trait that has a function in closely related species, examples of homology indicating common ancestry

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14
Q

Pseudogene

A

Vestigial DNA sequences that are similar to known functional genes but do not produce gene product (don’t code for RNA)

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15
Q

Catastrophism

A

Baron Georges Cuvier’s idea, belief that boundaries between rock layers represented rapid “catastrophes” (ex. Floods) over the history of a young earth, happen rapidly within timeframe of thousands of years

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16
Q

Uniformitarianism

A

Charles Lyell’s idea, idea that geologic processes shaped the earth gradually and constantly over a long time scale not catastrophism

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17
Q

Lamarckian inheritance

A

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, evolution due to change on individual over their lifetime, inheritance of acquired characters due to use and disuse

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18
Q

Natural selection

A

Populations will gradually change across generations to have a higher frequency of favorable variations

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19
Q

Artificial selection

A

Select desired traits and breed to increase the frequency of that trait within the population

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20
Q

Darwinian fitness

A

The ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in it’s environment, measured by reproductive success

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21
Q

Absolute fitness

A

The number of offspring contributed by an individual to the next generation

22
Q

Relative fitness

A

Number of offspring contributed by an individual divided by the number of offspring of the fittest individual in the population

23
Q

What is evolution?

A

The effects of evolution are visible at many scales:

  1. Persistence of a new mutation
  2. Change in frequency of a gene
  3. Origin or loss of structures
  4. Origin or extinction of species
24
Q

What is evolution not?

A

Change in an individual over its lifetime (development)

Change in genetically identical individuals in different environments (phenotypic plasticity)

25
Q

What does evolution explain?

A
  1. Diversity and history of life
  2. Similarities and differences among organisms
  3. Adaptive and nonadaptive traits (serve a function vs don’t)
26
Q

The essential elements of science

A
  1. Guided and explained by natural laws (not a supernatural being or force)
  2. Testable against the observable world (directly or indirectly through evidence)
  3. Conclusions are tentative and therefore are not necessarily final (must be willing to change when evidence dictates)
  4. Falsifiable
27
Q

“Evolution is about the origins of life” is a misconception

A

Evolution studies the change after complex life

28
Q

“Evolution is just a theory” is a misconception

A

Evolution is well supported and has stood through many tests and new evidence

30
Q

Fossil preservation

A
  1. Carbon replica - occurs in shale or the clay like sedimentary layers as a result of lacking oxygen, organisms are reduced to a thin carbon layer
  2. Cast or mold
  3. Mineralization - minerals crystallize out and replace body parts
  4. Amber - hardened resin surrounds organism and keeps it preserved
31
Q

Favorable conditions for fossil preservation

A
  1. Sedimentation present (lake or marine environment)
  2. Low energy movements (less disturbance and water movement)
  3. Prompt burial in anaerobic (lacking oxygen) environment (prevents degradation/decomposition)
  4. Basic, non-acidic soils so bones don’t dissolve
  5. Swamps
32
Q

How extinction suggests evolution

A

Baron Georges Cuvier published a list of 21 creatures believed to be extinct and established fossil record to show not all species are still living today, support idea that some species alive at the beginning no longer extant so extinction occurs

33
Q

How law of succession suggests evolution

A

Indicates organisms in given location are related and changing over time due to similarities in fossils over time in similar areas

34
Q

How transitional forms suggest evolution

A

Indicates that fossils are descendants of earlier species and ancestors of living species by showing intermediate characteristics between modern and ancestral species

35
Q

How homologous traits suggest evolution

A

Similar sequence and arrangement of bones in mammal forelimbs suggest modification of pre-existing structures, similar or different function

36
Q

How vestigial traits suggest evolution

A

Kiwi birds have wings like other birds but can’t fly, flightless cormorants vs those that fly, traits in similar species that were once functional in a common ancestor yet some have a loss of function

37
Q

How pseudogenes suggest evolution

A

Similarity between pseudogenes and functional genes suggests shared common ancestors, pseudogenes were once functional but became vestigial over time

38
Q

How the age of the earth suggests evolution

A

Relative and radio metric dating suggest the earth is old (~4.6 bill) and that life is old (~3.5 bill), this is enough time for gradual accumulation of small changes from a shared common ancestor to result in diversity of life today

39
Q

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

A

Father of modern systematics, invented taxonomy (classification and naming) and binomial nomenclature, hierarchy of species (domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species)

40
Q

Baron Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)

A

Established fossil record and idea of extinction, not a single progressive scale of nature but four body plans, catastrophism, evolution not explanation for succession of fossils in a location but rather that species went extinct and species from neighboring locations moved in

41
Q

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)

A

Fossil record showed changes within lineages or evolution, created term biology, argued for “Lamarckian inheritance” or change due to evolution of individual over their lifetime and changes passed on to young

42
Q

Charles Lyell (1797-1875)

A

Idea of uniformitarianism, rock layer changes only appear sudden when viewed as if the time scale was short

43
Q

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)

A

Rate of population growth greater than rate increase in food, unchecked growth leads to struggle for survival and famine, gave Darwin idea for natural selection (not all individuals survive equally and pass on their traits)

44
Q

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

A

Voyage of HMS Beagle (1831-1936) and arrive at Galápagos Islands, create idea of natural selection but not publish until 22 years later, the origin of species 1859

45
Q

Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913)

A

Also discovers idea of natural selection while collecting insects in Malaysia, sent manuscript of ideas to Darwin and pushed Darwin to publish

46
Q

4 postulates of natural selection

A
  1. Individuals within a population are variable for a trait
  2. Some variation is passed on to offspring or heritable
  3. Individuals vary in survival and reproductive success
  4. Survival and reproduction are not random with respect to the trait: individuals that survive and reproduce have the most favorable variations
47
Q

Major points of origin of species

A
  1. Evidence for evolution (lineages change)
  2. Common descent (all species diverged from a single common ancestor)
  3. Gradualism (evolution by small steps with transitional or intermediate forms for proof)
  4. Population evolution (evolution by changes in proportions of variation in a population)
  5. Natural selection (mechanism for evolution, competition or struggle for life causes evolution of traits that increase fitness or adaptation)
48
Q

Heritable traits by comparing parents to offspring, strong relationship shown, is it heritable and why be careful in assuming so?

A

May be heritable, the positive relation may be due to the environment and available resources, test for genetics to help prove its based on heritability

49
Q

Mechanisms for evolution

A

Selection is not the only mechanism for evolution (mutation, migration and generic drift)

50
Q

Does selection act on individuals?

A

Yes but it changes the characteristics of populations not individuals

51
Q

Does selection act on phenotypes?

A

Yes but it can change allele frequencies and this cause evolution

52
Q

Does selection adapt populations for the future?

A

No, selection adapts based on the generation and is always one step behind the environment so changes are based on the past

53
Q

Does selection act for the good of the species?

A

No, selection favors traits that increase individual fitness rather than that of the species

77
Q

Steps of strong inference

A
  1. Make observations about he natural world
  2. Devise multiple alternative hypotheses
  3. Seek observations or conduct experiments that can exclude or falsify hypotheses
  4. Repeat, possibly make new hypotheses based on new observations

Evolution Test 1 (4 decks)

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