Evolution of Aging (Lecture 6 Reading)

Question 1

Fecundity

Answer 1

number of offspring or rate of offspring production

Question 2

Fitness

Answer 2

How much of your genes you can pass on.

Lifetime reproductive success relative to others in the population.

Question 3

Natural selection

Answer 3

Heritable variation among genotypes in fitness

Question 4

Germ line

Answer 4

Linage of stem cells that become gametes

Question 5

Parsimony

Answer 5

When picking between several explanations, it is best to pick the simplist (fewest assumptions). Only pick the more complex one if there is new facts supporting it.

Question 6

Alternative name for parsimony

Answer 6

Occam’s razor

Question 7

Pleiotropy

Answer 7

Gene / allele / mutation affects more than one trait

Question 8

Semelparity

Answer 8

One reproductive event per lifetime. Does not depend on number of offspring produced.

Question 9

Another name for semelparous production

Answer 9

Big bang reproduction

Question 10

Senescence

Answer 10

Aging.

Age-dependent decline in physiological function leading to death.

Question 11

Effects of senescence at the demographic level

Answer 11

Decreased fecundity & increased mortality

Question 12

Soma

Answer 12

non-reproductive parts of the body that carry out biological functions except reproduction

Question 13

Soma is usually contrasted with…

Answer 13

germ line

Question 14

Germ line

Answer 14

Lineage of cells that give rise to gametes & reproductive organs