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
Q

at what scale does evolution occur?

A

large scale… over the course of populations

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26
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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27
Q

Describe the evolution of coat color in beach mice.

A

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
Q

What is directional selection?

A

occurs when conditions favor one extreme of a phenotypic range

29
Q

What is disruptive selection?

A

occurs when conditions favor individuals at both extremes

30
Q

What is stabilizing selection?

A

removes extremes and keeps intermediate types

31
Q

What is a benefit of stabilizing selection?

A

keeps higher genetic diversity in populations

32
Q

Describe the evolution of Trinidadian guppies.

A

males with bright spots are preferred by predators and female mates; guppies with bright spots evolve in areas with lower predation

33
Q

Describe Lenski’s studies on E. coli evolution.

A

evolved strains have higher fitness in lab environment than ancestors; cell size increased in populations

34
Q

What is an exaptation?

A

a trait/feature that takes on a function that was previously nonexistent

35
Q

What is an adaptation?

A

trait evolved by natural selection to make an organism more fit for its environment

36
Q

What is an example of an adaptation?

A

echolocation in bats

37
Q

What is an example of an exaptation?

A

bird feathers… previously used for temp regulation but evolved to be used for flight

38
Q

How did coat color in beach mice evolve?

A

coat color = heritable; produced by 3 genes; modified by natural selection; dominant fur color of individuals in a population reflects habitat background color

39
Q

Why do useless/vestigial traits exist?

A

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
Q

what is a phylogeny?

A

branching relationships of populations as they give rise to multiple descendant populations over evolutionary time

41
Q

what is allometry?

A

disproportionate changes in size that occur when separate features of an organism are compared across a range of body sizes

42
Q

Why aren’t traits “perfect”?

A

Natural selection is not ‘conscious’ so there is not necessarily a goal; physical constraints

43
Q

what is taxonomy?

A

branch of science concerned with classification

44
Q

what is a clade?

A

monophyletic group of organisms believed to have evolved from a common ancestor

45
Q

what is a cladogram?

A

branch tips aligned; branch lengths don’t matter; shows species relationships

46
Q

what is phylogram?

A

branch tips not aligned; different branch lengths show sequence change (how much evolution has occurred) along each branch;

47
Q

what is a chronograph?

A

branch tips aligned; different branches show actual time rather than evolutionary change

48
Q

what are the taxonomic levels?

A

domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

49
Q

What is an analogous trait?

A

similar looking but not inherited from a common ancestor

50
Q

what is a homologous trait?

A

similar looking and inherited from a common ancestor

50
Q

how can you identify analogous traits?

A

dissimilar anatomy, similar functions, develop in unrelated animals, developmental pattern is not similar

51
Q

how can you identify a homologous trait?

A

similar in anatomy, dissimilar in function, inherited from common ancestor, developmental pattern is similar (divergent evolution)

52
Q

What is the Principal of Parsimony?

A

choose the simplest scientific explanation of the evidence

53
Q

what is divergent evolution?

A

two related species that look alike because they share the same ancestor and they diverge and become different

54
Q

what is convergent evolution?

A

two unrelated species look alike because they are adapted to similar conditions

55
Q

what is an apomorphy?

A

derived trait away from ancestor

56
Q

what is a synapomorphy?

A

derived trait shared by multiple species of common descent

57
Q

what is a derived trait?

A

new trait that the ancestor didn’t have

58
Q

what is a plesiomorphy?

A

an ancestral trait that is unchanged from the ancestral condition

59
Q

what is a symplesiopmorphy?

A

an ancestral character state shared by two or more lineages in a clade

60
Q

what is an ingroup?

A

group of organisms of interest (marsupials, placentals, and monotremes)

61
Q

what is an outgroup?

A

a taxon that is related to the ingroup but not part of it

62
Q

what is a polytomy?

A

when the relationships are uncertain; internal node of a phylogenetic tree when there is uncertainty about evolutionary relationships

63
Q

how are placentals and marsupials related?

A

sister taxa

64
Q

how can we distinguish apomorphies and plesiomorphies?

A

polarize characters using outgroup analysis

65
Q

how to do an outgroup analysis:

A

-compare in group with distant relative (outgroup)
-tail characters are derived or ancestral
-group by shared synapomorphies