Evolution and the History of life on earth Flashcards
what were Aristotle’s ideas regarding species?
he believed that species where static and unchanging. that all life has always existed and will continue to exist without change.
what was the Scala Naturae
a ranked scale of organisms from least to most complex, with human beings at the top.
what is “special creation”?
direct intervention from god. that god is the first cause for everything and once things are created it becomes static.
why was the discovery of fossils significant?
because fossils challenged the ideas of special creation and unchanging life.
what were the ideas of Lamarck?
Lamarck coined the term “transmutation,” which is a mutation or change through time. He believed that behaviors would change the offspring of a species based on the changes the species underwent in its own life. this was eventually proven to be false.
who was Charles Darwin? when did he live?
Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution. he lived 1809-18882.
what was Paley’s watchmaker argument?
the idea that if a watch exists, a watchmaker must also exist. this is applied to life, if life exists, a maker of life must also exist. that life is much too complex to be a property of chance, just as the complexity of a watch.
what significant idea did charles lyell present in his book principles of geology?
that geological structures like canyons where created over millions of years and can be seen through the different layers of rock.
how did lyell influence darwins thought?
lyell influenced how darwin perceived the changes that occur within the world, the idea that it happened gradually over millions of years.
what was puzzling about the Galapagos island species?
different species of island finches had different features depending on the island. the where adapted to their individual environments despite the islands being very close together.
what is artificial selection?
selection that is a result of human intervention. such as the development of dogs, or certain species being hunted to extinction.
what is Darwin’s theory of natural selection?
heritable variations within populations. as organisms are born into an environment, individuals with more favorable variations live on and leave offspring with the variation.
which statements are observations and which are inductions ?
Observations are the specific facts or patterns that are used in inductive reasoning, while induction is the process of using those observations to make a general conclusion:
