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exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

what is a reaction norm?

A

describes the sensitivity of an organism or multiple organisms of the same genotype to some specific environmental factor

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2
Q

what are the 6 main components of the scientific paradigm shift discussed in class?

A

-earth is old
-change is gradual
-species evolve from other species
-species evolve and go extinct
-variation permits selection
-hypothesis generation/testing

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3
Q

What is Maria Sibylla Merian known for?

A

one of the first true ecologists/entomologists, systemic study of insects and their life cycles, art of plants/insects

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4
Q

What theory is Mary Anning known for?

A

species go extinct

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5
Q

What theories are associated with Charles Lyell?

A

patterns we can observe now explain the past, catastrophism vs uniformitarianism, change is gradual

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6
Q

Who was Georges Cuvier?

A

father of paleontology, extinction occurs, comparative anatomy of vertebrates, opposed ideas that organisms evolved

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7
Q

Who was Thomas Malthus?

A

theory of populations, populations show geometric growth, food supply show proportional growth, only so many resources to go around

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8
Q

What did Carl Linneas develop?

A

binomial nomenclature

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9
Q

What was Jean Lamarck known for?

A

theory of acquired characteristics, law of use/disuse, species change overtime to fit their environment,

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10
Q

Who was Charles Darwin?

A

naturalist on the ‘beagle’ right after grad school and studied ‘Darwins Finches’ on the Galapagos, developed theories about evolution, descent with modification, evolution by natural selection

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11
Q

Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?

A

similar ideas to Darwin, evolution by natural selection

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12
Q

Who was Gregor Mendel?

A

father of genetics, breed peas, develop punnet squares

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13
Q

What is catastrophism?

A

earth features change quickly assuming earth is young

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14
Q

what is uniformitarianism?

A

gradual forces now were also gradual in the past

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15
Q

What were the two major hypotheses proposed by Darwin?

A

-Organisms have descended with modifications from common ancestors
-modification is natural selection acting on hereditary variation

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16
Q

What is the definition of natural selection?

A

process where individuals with certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than those without those traits

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17
Q

what is fitness?

A

number of offspring an individual leaves in the next generation & ability to survive and reproduce

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18
Q

What is artificial selection?

A

human chooses beneficial traits and discards those that are considered undesirable; produces new varieties from a single domesticated species

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19
Q

What is the ‘selective agent’ in natural selection?

A

nature

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20
Q

What is meant by hierarchal patterns of similarity when referencing phylogenies?

A

groups of species form hierarchal patterns of similarity (groups within groups) that share a common ancestor

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21
Q

What are the major components of the Modern Synthesis?

A

-variation is produced by sexual reproduction and mutation
-genetic variation produces phenotypic differences
-natural selection can only operate on variable phenotypes
-randomness/genetic drift can also influence gene frequencies
-complex trait evolution is the product of multiple genes

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22
Q

what is independent progression?

A

organisms have an innate tendency to evolve in a linear fashion

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23
Q

How does natural selection proceed?

A

operates on phenotypes

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24
Q

What properties of an organism does natural selection operate on?

A

variation, dominance, mutations can be inherited

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25
at what scale does evolution occur?
large scale... over the course of populations
26
What is a reaction norm?
describes the sensitivity of an organism or multiple organisms of the same genotype to some specific environmental factor
27
Describe the evolution of coat color in beach mice.
variation in fur color is caused by mutations in any of the 3 'color' genes; mutations can be inherited; dominant fur color in individuals in a population reflects the environment background color
28
What is directional selection?
occurs when conditions favor one extreme of a phenotypic range
29
What is disruptive selection?
occurs when conditions favor individuals at both extremes
30
What is stabilizing selection?
removes extremes and keeps intermediate types
31
What is a benefit of stabilizing selection?
keeps higher genetic diversity in populations
32
Describe the evolution of Trinidadian guppies.
males with bright spots are preferred by predators and female mates; guppies with bright spots evolve in areas with lower predation
33
Describe Lenski's studies on E. coli evolution.
evolved strains have higher fitness in lab environment than ancestors; cell size increased in populations
34
What is an exaptation?
a trait/feature that takes on a function that was previously nonexistent
35
What is an adaptation?
trait evolved by natural selection to make an organism more fit for its environment
36
What is an example of an adaptation?
echolocation in bats
37
What is an example of an exaptation?
bird feathers... previously used for temp regulation but evolved to be used for flight
38
How did coat color in beach mice evolve?
coat color = heritable; produced by 3 genes; modified by natural selection; dominant fur color of individuals in a population reflects habitat background color
39
Why do useless/vestigial traits exist?
species experienced a change in their environment or behavior that make the trait no longer necessary (it would've been needed in the past)
40
what is a phylogeny?
branching relationships of populations as they give rise to multiple descendant populations over evolutionary time
41
what is allometry?
disproportionate changes in size that occur when separate features of an organism are compared across a range of body sizes
42
Why aren’t traits “perfect”?
Natural selection is not ‘conscious’ so there is not necessarily a goal; physical constraints
43
what is taxonomy?
branch of science concerned with classification
44
what is a clade?
monophyletic group of organisms believed to have evolved from a common ancestor
45
what is a cladogram?
branch tips aligned; branch lengths don't matter; shows species relationships
46
what is phylogram?
branch tips not aligned; different branch lengths show sequence change (how much evolution has occurred) along each branch;
47
what is a chronograph?
branch tips aligned; different branches show actual time rather than evolutionary change
48
what are the taxonomic levels?
domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
49
What is an analogous trait?
similar looking but not inherited from a common ancestor
50
what is a homologous trait?
similar looking and inherited from a common ancestor
50
how can you identify analogous traits?
dissimilar anatomy, similar functions, develop in unrelated animals, developmental pattern is not similar
51
how can you identify a homologous trait?
similar in anatomy, dissimilar in function, inherited from common ancestor, developmental pattern is similar (divergent evolution)
52
What is the Principal of Parsimony?
choose the simplest scientific explanation of the evidence
53
what is divergent evolution?
two related species that look alike because they share the same ancestor and they diverge and become different
54
what is convergent evolution?
two unrelated species look alike because they are adapted to similar conditions
55
what is an apomorphy?
derived trait away from ancestor
56
what is a synapomorphy?
derived trait shared by multiple species of common descent
57
what is a derived trait?
new trait that the ancestor didn't have
58
what is a plesiomorphy?
an ancestral trait that is unchanged from the ancestral condition
59
what is a symplesiopmorphy?
an ancestral character state shared by two or more lineages in a clade
60
what is an ingroup?
group of organisms of interest (marsupials, placentals, and monotremes)
61
what is an outgroup?
a taxon that is related to the ingroup but not part of it
62
what is a polytomy?
when the relationships are uncertain; internal node of a phylogenetic tree when there is uncertainty about evolutionary relationships
63
how are placentals and marsupials related?
sister taxa
64
how can we distinguish apomorphies and plesiomorphies?
polarize characters using outgroup analysis
65
how to do an outgroup analysis:
-compare in group with distant relative (outgroup) -tail characters are derived or ancestral -group by shared synapomorphies

evolution (2 decks)

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