Evolution, Natural Selection, Population Genetics, & Speciation

Question 1

adaptive radiation

Answer 1

Previously occupied niche that is now available. (other organisms were living there and outcompeted other species… but were wiped out!)

Question 2

Allopatric speciation

Answer 2

Two groups of species become separated from each other for so long that they evolve into their own new species… if you attempt to put them back together they could no longer reproduce viable fertile offspring

Question 3

biogeography

Answer 3

The study of the past and present distribution of organisms

Question 4

Bottleneck

Answer 4

• forced case of genetic drift An event that drastically changes the size of a population… typically the surviving population is no longer genetically a good representation of the original population

Question 5

Founder effect (forced causes of genetic drift)

Answer 5

Genetic drift that occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a larger population and form a new population whose gene pool is not reflective of that of the original population

Question 6

endemic

Answer 6

Endemic species: a species whose distribution is limited to a specific geographic area
think polar bears forced to live in arctic

Question 7

Heterozygote advantage

Answer 7

Greater reproductive success of heterozygous individuals compared to homozygotes… because they usually tend to preserve variation within the gene pool

Question 8

neutral varation

Answer 8

When a population carries several different alleles, it is usually likely that all those alleles are equally good at performing their job, therefore the allele does not affect a population’s fitness
Ex: being left or right handed… it doesn’t affect you negatively if you have either

Question 9

Paleontology

Answer 9

The branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants

Question 10

Polyploidy

Answer 10

Heritable condition of possessing more than two complete sets of homologous chromosomes (is a result of an accident of cell division)
Can only cross with itself
More common in plants than animals