EVOLUTION PT2 Flashcards
what is natural selection?
the process of life forms having traits that batter enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures (change in climate, predators, food) will tend to survive and produce larger amounts of offspring.
difference between microevolution and macro evolution
mircroevolution is changes of allele frequencies within a species/population over a short period of time e.g bacteria
macroevolution are major evolutionary change regarding whole taxanomic groups over longer periods of time through accumulation of mircroevolution e.g horses
what is evolution
is changes in the allele frequency of a population over successive generations
how does variation occur?
through mutation then enhanced through sexual reproduction
how does natural selection lead to evolution
- variation in a population
- more individuals produced than an be supported leadin to struggle for survival
- individuals with favourable characteristics outcompeting individuals lacking those characteristics
- favoured individuals surviving and producing offspring or more than others
- favourable allele passed on leading to increase in favoured allele in gene pool
explain what selection pressures are and examples of them
any feature og the environemtn which increases/decreases the fitness of a particular phenotype in a population
- resource availability =food,shelter mates
- environmental conditions- temp,weather, geographical location
biological factor- diseases and predators
pappered moths are an example of what
industrial melanism
define allopatric speciation
occurs when two or more popuations are separated due to geographical barriers and are prevented from breeding
what is speciation
theevolutionary process that leads to the formation of one or more new species from one species over time
what is gene flow and why is it important?
is the movement of gnes from one population to another through interbreeding
- introducing new genes into a population
- makes populations more genetically similar
examples of phycial geographical barriers
lakes river, mountains, valleyes, roads, deserts
list and breifly describe the process of speciation
- variation- all population carrying a degree of variation between individuals both pheno and genotypes
- isolation- geographical barriers separating population and due to different selective pressures natural selection favours differnt characteristicsc in each sub-population there fore genepools changing. also due to mutations no same mutation can occur on each
steps of evolution here
- reproductive isolation - 2 populations accumulate enough genetic differences that they no longer can interbreed to create fertile offspring (= new species)
difference between speciation and evolution
- different selection pressures in each population
- each population evolves in isolation to eachother
- gene flow ceases
- eventually gene pools have accumulated many differnces so that the species can no longer be the same species.
- speciation is a process of evolution
evolution is a process that occurs over successive generations and in microevolution and macroevolution
explain how an advantageous allele can rise and then spread through a population
mutations
- through the process of mutation
- this causing a change in DNA which results in a new allele
- caused by mutagen or problem in DNA replication
natural selection
- through the process of natural selection
- there is genetic variation in the population
- individuals with the advantageous allele have higher fitness
- the individuals therefore having more offspring than those organismins with put the favourable trait.
- the offspring inherit the advantageous allele
- the frequency of the advantageous trait will therefore be slightly higher in the next generation
- therefore this allele having a higher frequency over many generations
list 5 ways in which genetic change occurs
mutation, migration, natural selection, non-random mating, genetic drift
what are gene pools
the sum of the alleles in a given population
describe random genetic drift
random genetic drift- a mechanism of evolution in whiich allele frequencies of a populationchange over generations due to chance events (death of indiv) not selection
describe random genetic drift
random genetic drift- a mechanism of evolution in whiich allele frequencies of a populationchange over generations due to chance events (death of indiv) not selection
describe the founder effect (genetic drift)
a small group of idividuals split off to start a new population
- allele in founder population dont always reflect original population
- once population has increased the genepool is representative of the founder population not the originla population
EXAMPLE: tasmanian tiger separated from mainland aus
describe the bottle neck effect (genetic drift)
a sudden durastic reduction in population size ( drought flood, fire, hunt)
surviving indiv constitutes a random genetic sample of the original population.
- population numbers may recover but gene pool will reain small therfore more suseptable to changes in environment and have an increased risk in extinction
EXAMPLE: cheetahs are all practially identical because of this.
list the types of fossils
trace= footprint, trail, burrow
mould= impression left by organism
cast = mould filled with mineral rock
true form= shells, teeth, bones
explain the 5 ways fossils provide evidence for the theory of evolution
- changes over time
- size= getting larger to travel further
- foot structure = more robust to reduce injury
- tooth structure = more robust due to change in diet - organisms becoming more complex over time = protist, invertebrate, vertebates
- the variety of fossil increases in upper more recent of rock
- no fossil records exist of any modern living plants or animals
- this suggests that organisms are found as fossils either became exinct or evolved into species currently living - missing links - the common ancestors
what are vesitigail organs and how does it provide evidence for evolution
theya re structures that have been reduced in size or has lost its function over the course of evolution
and shows evidence of relationships amoung organisms(evolved from organisms where structures had a function)
how does studies of comparative embryology studies provide evidence for evolution?
comparative embryology shows characteristics that vertebrate embryos all share. for example pharyngeal slits, post anal tail, same level of brain development, two chambered heart.
showing that these traits had a function in an ancestor with the organisms but not present i the adults. suggesting they all share a common acestor.
how do homologous structures provide evidence for evolution?
evolution suggests that species coming from a common ancestor shoul share homologous charatcers or derived from the same structure. for example the pentadactyle limb is a structure that whales, humans, bats and elephants all have they all serve a different function by have similar structure.
this suggesting that they all has a common ancestor with that structure.