Evolutionary Theory 1 Flashcards
What is evolution?
- change in organisms over generational time - a change in allele frequencies over time
- ongoing biological process
- change in traits of phenotype
- changes in genotype do not always result in changes in phenotype
- genetic/genotype level
phenotype
- observable trait or characteristic
- physical traits like eye colour, but also things like blood type or hormone levels
- behavioural traits are also phenotypes that are shaped by evolution
- controlled only in part by genotype
genotype
- genetic component that determines a characteristic (genes/alleles)
- genetic change may not result in phenotypic change
microevolution
genetic changes within populations that may cause populations of a species to vary in trait frequencies (eg. lactase persistence)
macroevolution
genetic changes in populations over larger spans of time that may result in the appearance of new species
how do we know about evolution?
scientific method
what does misconceptions and distrust in science create
misconceptions and distrust in evolutionary research
scientific method
- evidence based
- with new evidence ideas are re-evaluated
- often quantitative
- observe and test to understand the world, NOT prove a scenario
- a cycle or series of procedures used in scientific research to gain knowledge and stimulate new information/discoveries
- OBSERVATIONS AND TESTS
- must me repeatable and reproducible
what is the cycle of the scientific method
observation
observe directly or take cues from previous research
hypothesis
- testable explanation of observations
- written as a statement that, if untrue, may be disproven by evidence obtained during data collection
- null hypothesis (claim that effect being studied does not exist)
- alternate hypothesis (opposing theory to null hypothesis, tested to disprove null hypothesis)
data collection
- process of acquiring new information or evidence
- feasibility versus strength of data field or laboratory based
- two types of data: quantitative and qualitative
analysis of information
various methods and models
interpretation
- did the hypothesis explain the observation
- is there evidence and data to support hypothesis, does it accept/reject the null/alternate hypothesis
scientific theory
- proposed explanations of robust relationships between natural phenomena that collectively help explain patterns in the natural world
- when a hypothesis stands up to repeated testing
- ex. germ theory, evolutionary theory
self-correcting
- can be altered over time with further experimentation and new technologies
biological anthropology as a science
- reliance on the scientific method
- interpreted in evolutionary framework
biological anthropology as a social science
- people cannot be divorced from their social and cultural context
- importance of the biocultural perspective