Evolutionary Concepts Flashcards
What did Aristotle believe about organisms?
Organisms arranged in a scale of nature or great chain of being
Ladder from inanimate to plants, lower animals, and humans. Each species is isolated and perfectly designed.
How old did Archbishop James Ussher calculate the Earth to be?
6028 years old
This calculation was made in the 17th century.
What system did Carolus Linnaeus develop for classifying organisms?
Binomial nomenclature
This system includes naming organisms by genus and species.
List the taxonomic ranks in order from domain to species.
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
Example ranks: Eukarya, Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae, Panthera, Pardus.
Who developed ideas on geology and stratigraphy and questioned accepted knowledge of the natural world?
Nicolaus Steno
He dissected a large shark in 1666 and proposed that teeth transformed into stones.
What did George Cuvier contribute to the field of paleontology?
Identified that fossils are similar to modern species and many past species are extinct
His work emphasized the importance of fossils in understanding historical change.
What did Mary Anning discover?
Several species of extinct marine reptiles
Her discoveries were significant in the field of paleontology.
What does the concept of extinction imply about creation?
Not all of God’s creations were perfect and some were doomed to failure.
What did Charles Lyell propose about the formation of the Earth’s crust?
Took place through countless small changes over vast periods of time
His work in ‘Principles of Geology’ (1830) suggested that the Earth is much older.
What was Georges Buffon’s contribution to the understanding of the Earth’s age?
Proposed the Earth was at least 70000 years old and that life transformed with environmental changes.
What was Jean Baptiste de Lamarck’s theory of evolution?
Species evolve through natural processes and organisms arise by spontaneous generation
He suggested adaptation occurs through inheritance of acquired changes.
What observations did Charles Darwin make during his HMS Beagle voyage?
Each island had distinct species of finch that were similar but separate species
He noted that isolation led to divergence into different species.
Who is Alfred Russel Wallace and what did he identify?
British naturalist and explorer who identified the Wallace line
This line separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts.
What are the key components of evolution by natural selection?
- Individual variations within a population
- Variation is heritable
- Some forms are more successful at surviving and reproducing
Differential reproductive success is based on traits of the organism.
Define genotype.
The set of genes that an organism carries
Usually referenced concerning a specific trait.
Define phenotype.
Observable traits of an organism
The trait is the expression of a genotype and can be measured.
What is adaptation in the context of evolution?
A trait that has been selected by natural selection and provides improved function.
What is selective pressure?
Causes that reduce survival or chance of reproduction.
Fill in the blank: Industrial melanism is exemplified by the _______.
Peppered moth
Scientific name: Biston betularia.
What occurs when the environment changes in relation to natural selection?
Changes the frequency of an allele that expresses a character leading to adaptation.
