Evolution & Classification Flashcards
How old do evolutionists say that the Earth is?
4 billion years
At the beginning of the Earth, what was missing in our atmosphere?
Oxygen
Describe A.J. Oparin’s hypothesis
Earth’s reducing atmosphere combined with the Earth’s cooling and lightning storms resulted in primordial seas, where organic molecules like amino acids, building blocks of life, could be formed
What was the famous experiment performed by Miller and Urey?
They mimicked Earth’s early atmosphere in experiments where they took small organic molecules and exposed them to electrical charges, and they found that they were able to generate amino acids from this process.
What does “anaerobic” mean?
Doesn’t use oxygen
What are the “building blocks of life”?
Amino acids
What is an autotroph?
“Auto” meaning “Self” and “troph” meaning “feeding.
Give an example of an early organism that produces its own energy through photosynthesis, expelling oxygen into the atmosphere?
Cyanobacteria.
An organism that uses oxygen in its metabolic pathways is one we refer to as being ____?
Aerobic.
These aerobic cells incorporated autotrophs and together evolved into the first photosynthetic _____________ cells.
Eukaryotic
What were probably the earliest plants?
Aquatic plants
What are animals thought to have evolved from?
Marine protists
What were the earliest vertebrates?
Fish
Humans are believe by evolutionists to be evolved from what?
Primates
When were the earliest humanoid fossils found, and what were they named?
In the 1970’s, and they were named Australopithecus afarensis, nicknamed “Lucy”
The earliest human fossils are thought to be how old, according to evolutionists?
1.8 million years old
What is the term used to describe the existence of structures in two different species that share a common ancestry?
Homologous
What is the term used to describe the existence of structures in two different species that share a common function, but no necessarily a common ancestry.
Analogy (analogous)
The term that describes where more than one species evolves to fill a single niche.
Convergent evolution
Analogous structures are less useful in determining evolutionary patterns among organisms than homologous structures for which of the following reasons?
(A) Analogous structures are more complex than homologous structures.
(B) Analogous structures form vestigial structures, and homologous structures do not.
(C) Analogous structures are subject to mutation unlike homologous structures.
(D) Analogous structures are derived from the same embryological tissues, so they provide little information.
(E) Analogous structures reflect adaptation to the environment, and homologous structures reflect evolutionary ancestry.
(E)
Who came up with the first ideas of evolution?
Charles Darwin
Where and how did Darwin come up with his theory of evolution?
Galapagos Island, observing the finches. He noticed that despite the fact that they all had similarities, they all had very different beak sizes. He focused on natural selection that happens to individuals.
Modern theory of evolution focuses on _____
Changes that happen among populations or within communities.
What is meant by natural selection?
Some individuals within a population are better suited for survival under given environmental conditions.
One mechanism of evolution that means that those individuals better suited for survival are also more likely to successfully be able to reproduce, and this strengthens the frequency of desirable traits across a population over time. (Desirable meaning something that makes you more capable of surviving the current environment.)
Differential reproduction
A random alteration or change in a DNA sequence.
Mutation
Give two examples of undesirable genetic mutations.
Sickle cell anemia
And mutation of the BRCA1 gene which has been shown to lead to breast cancer
What is meant by genetic drift?
Sometimes individuals leave behind a few more offspring than others and therefore they’re going to be leaving behind more of their genes as well. These genes are then expressed in the following generations even though they’re not necessarily the fittest or those that are selected for.
What is the difference between homozygous and heterozygous?
A homozygous individual carries a set of two identical (RR or rr) alleles while a heterozygous individual bears different alleles (Rr).
