Exam 1 Flashcards
Fossil
preserved evidence of life (impressions and mineralized remains)
Evolution
change in the properties of groups over generations
Cetaceans
marine mammals
Natural selection
organisms outcompete each other with survival and reproduction
Homologous
shared trait inherited from common ancestor
Analogous
shared trait derived from environmental factors, not common ancestor
Synapomorphy
shared trait among a group of related species derived from common ancestor
Morphology
structure/form of organisms
Phylogeny
evolutionary branching pattern
Whales and Fish
lineages evolved independently, but converged on analogous structures
Ambulocetus
fossil whale with legs and traits intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic
Viral reassortment
ability to swap genes with other viruses
When did whales evolve from land mammals
~50 MYA
Hemagglutinin
allows a virus to bind to the cells of its host
Is behavior a phenotype
yes
2 early questions about nature
- what were the patterns in diversity?
- how did they come to be?
Great Chain of Being
hierarchal system, lower to higher forms. 300 BC
Taxa
nestled hierarchy of groups
Linnean classification
taxonomy
Steno
founder of geology ( shark tooth on mountain)
Stratigraphy
study of rock layering
Paley
proposed that the mechanical complexity of organisms is evidence of the divine (watch on road example)