Evolution Study Guide Flashcards
To understand the overall ideas in the evolution unit.
What types of evidence supports the theory of evolution?
Homologous structures Fossil records Comparative biochemistry Comparative embryology
What is behavioral adaptation?
Behaviors that are inherited by individuals. Do not confuse them with normal physiological functions.
Which scientist suggested that acquired characteristics can be inherited by offspring?
Jean LaMarck
Which method would provide the best preservative technique for fossils?
Freezing in ice
What did Thomas Malthus determine to be the primary limiting factor in any population of organisms?
Competition for resources. Food, water, shelter.
The bones in a whale flipper and a human hand would be considered homologous or analogous?
Homologous
Geographic or reproductive isolation is required for what?
Speciation
Which of the ancestral humans has the greatest brain capacity?
Homo sapiens
How quickly does a complex adaptation probably evolve?
Probably slowly, over time.
The digestion of food is an example of what type of adaptation?
Biochemical or physiological
Which similarity would provide better evidence of a common evolutionary ancestor?
Similar sequences of nucleotides in DNA.
Most fossils are found in what kind of rock?
Sedimentary
An organ that is incomplete or no longer has any apparent uses is called what?
Vestigial
What two kinds of molecules would be used to support evolution?
Nucleic acids Proteins
_____ occurs when a physical barrier cuts a single breeding population in two.
Geographic isolation
Darwin first started to develop the idea of evolution after visiting the _____ Islands.
Galapagos
What is punctuated equilibrium?
Quick changes followed by long periods of stability.
What is gradual equilibrium?
Slow changes in organisms.
What is stabilizing selection?
When two ends of the bell curve come closer together.
What is disruptive selection?
When the middle of the bell curve is eliminated.
What is directional selection?
When the bell curve moves to one side.
Physical separation of a population of organisms followed by selection of different characteristics in each population can result in _____.
Speciation
The early developing stage of an animal is called a _____.
Embryo
The wings of a butterfly, bird, and flying fish are examples of what?
Analogous structures.
The idea that evolution proceeds in rapid steps followed by long periods of stability is called _____.
Punctuated equilibrium.
How was the atmosphere of the earth changed by autotrophes?
Oxygen was increased.
Autotrophs use what energy source to produce food?
Sunlight
What bone would be particularly useful to determine whether an animal was bipedal?
Pelvis or hip.
What gas is present in today’s atmosphere that was absent in Earth’s original atmosphere?
Oxygen
What is cryptic coloration.
Camouflage.
What is mimicry?
One organism copies the looks of a dangerous species. Both are adapted.
The orange and black stripes of a tiger is an example of what?
Cryptic coloration.
T/F - Natural selection determines which genes spread throughout a population.
True
T/F - Ultraviolet radiation in the early atmosphere is thought to have been important in causing reactions between simple molecules in the formation of the organic molecules
False
T/F - Two species may share a common gene pool.
False
T/F - Two similar species of fish living in the same stream are reproductively isolated.
True
T/F - Study of similarity in protein structure among organisms is called comparative anatomy.
False
T/F - Mimicry, warning coloration, and cryptic coloration are all adaptations which increase the chance of survival and reproduction of organisms that posses there capabilities.
True
T/F - A trait is an adaptation only if it improves the chances of reproduction and survival.
True
T/F - Homologous structures must have similar function.
False
T/F - All variations become adaptations.
False
T/F - Reproductive isolation prevents interbreeding between members of the same species.
True
T/F - A characteristic that can be used to determine primate ancestral life styles and food preferences is the types of teeth present in upper and lower jaws.
True
T/F - A species is a group of organisms, which normally interbreed in nature to produce fertile offspring.
True
T/F - The chemical process of aerobic respiration evolved prior to the chemical process of photosynthesis.
False
T/F - According to the theory of natural selection, individuals having variations that give them an advantage in obtaining limited resources will likely survive and reproduce.
True
T/F - The development of a new species is called species radiation.
False
T/F - The coccyx is a vestigial organ.
True
