Evolution and Ecology Flashcards
What is an individual living thing called?
Organism
What is the study of interactions between living organisms and their surroundings?
Ecology
What includes all members of a species that live in the same area at the same time?
Population
What is made up of all populations living and interacting in one area?
Biological community
What includes the biological community and its surrounding physical environment?
Ecosystem
What is the part of Earth that supports life, where all ecosystems are found?
Biosphere
What is the particular place where an organism can survive?
Habitat
What two factors define a habitat?
Temperature and precipitation
What is a factor that plays the greatest role in determining an organism’s range?
Critical factor
Why do you die when your body temperature gets too high?
Heat causes proteins in the human body to denature so they don’t work properly.
What are the three types of adaptations?
Physical, Behavioral, and Physiological
What adaptation revolves around structural differences in coloration, body shape, and musculature?
Physical adaptations
What adaptation involves migration and marking territory?
Behavioral adaptation
What adaptation includes skin tanning and occurs at the cell or tissue level in an organism?
Physiological adaptation
What are the small advantageous mutations that accumulate over countless generations known as?
Evolution
What is the process where individuals with better suited genes are going to survive and reproduce more successfully?
Natural selection
What is the primary source of the genetic variety behind natural selection and evolution?
Random mutations or changes in DNA
What are the three forms of evidence of evolution?
Physical similarities, comparing DNA, and vestigial structures
What are some examples of physical similarities?
Most animals have similar bones in their limbs
How does human DNA compare to that of chimpanzees and bonobos?
The DNA is 99% similar
What are vestigial structures?
Structures that still exist in the body but no longer serve a function
What advantage does Sickle-cell anemia provide?
It provides an immunity to malaria
Where is Sickle-cell anemia most common?
Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and India
How long has life existed on Earth?
3.6-3.8 billion years
What is it called when a population splits and becomes two different species?
Divergent speciation
What four factors favor natural selection and speciation?
Physiological stress, predation, competition, and sexual selection
When does physiological stress occur?
When inappropriate levels of a critical environmental factor are available.
What is it called when one organism is hunted and killed by another?
Predation
What is competition?
When multiple organisms attempt to use the same resources.
When does sexual selection occur?
When the female responds to specific behaviors or physical traits
What is it called when natural selection favors unrelated organisms to look similar?
Convergent speciation
