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BIOL 214 > EXAM 1 > Flashcards

EXAM 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is the different between an organism being autotrophic or heterotrophic?

A

An autotrophic organism gains its energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, while a heterotrophic organism gains its energy from consuming organic compounds (other organisms).

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2
Q

What are disjunct distributions? What phenomena create them?

A

Disjunct distributions are closely related species living in widely separated locations.

Phenomena are dispersal (movement of organisms away from their place of origin) and vicariance (fragmentation of a once-continuous geographical distribution by external factors).

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3
Q

What is the different between an organism being autotrophic or heterotrophic?

A

An autotrophic organism gains its energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, while a heterotrophic organism gains its energy from consuming organic compounds (other organisms).

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4
Q

What is the different between an organism being autotrophic or heterotrophic?

A

An autotrophic organism gains its energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, while a heterotrophic organism gains its energy from consuming organic compounds (other organisms).

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5
Q

How do species with continuous distribution live?

A

In suitable habitats throughout a geographical area.

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6
Q

What is the timeline of Continental Drift?

A

240 MYA: Pangea –> 170 MYA: Laurasia and Gondwana –> 120 MYA: Gondwana begins breakup –> 110 MYA: Rift Australia vs India & Madagascar –> 90 MYA: Separation Africa & South America, Madagascar & India –> 20 MYA: India collides with Asia

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7
Q

Fill in the blank: The Permian period experienced the rise of reptiles (diapsids and _).

A

synapsids

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8
Q

The Cenozoic Period (66 MYA-Present) experienced…

A

The rise of mammals, grasslands, and the origins of humans.

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9
Q

Fill in the blanks: The Mesozoic was the Age of _. The first _ were in the Triassic Period (251.9-201.4 MYA), while the first _ were in the Jurassic Period (201.4-145 MYA), and the rise of flowering plants began in the _ Period (145-66 MYA).

A

The Mesozoic was the Age of Dinosaurs. The first mammals were in the Triassic Period (251.9-201.4 MYA), while the first birds were in the Jurassic Period (201.4-145 MYA), and the rise of flowering plants began in the Crustaceous Period (145-66 MYA).

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10
Q

Which mass extinction(s) were the most impactful?

A

The extinction at the end of the Permian period (298.9-251.9 MYA). There was a loss of 80% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates.

The K/T extinction (66 MYA) was also impactful, it marked the end of the Crustaceous Period and disappearance of non-avian dinosaurs.

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11
Q

NOT A QUESTION - Useful historical timeline

A

Image

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12
Q

List the eons from oldest to most recent.

Split the most recent eon into its eras, from oldest to most recent.

Split the eras into its periods, from oldest to most recent.

A

Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic.

The Phanerozoic Eon began with the Paleozoic Era, then the Mesozoic, then the Cenozoic, which is what we are in today.

The Paleozoic Era begins with Cambrian, then Ordovician, then Silurian, then Devonian, then Carboniferous, then Permian.

Next, Mesozoic Era begins with Triassic, then Jurassic, then Cretaceous.

Lastly, Cenozoic Era begins with Tertiary, then Quaternary, which we are in today.

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13
Q

When did plants colonize terrestrial environments?

A

After the Cambrian radiation/explosion, during the Ordovician & Devonian periods. The ozone layer protected these organisms from the UV light emitted by the sun.

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14
Q

What occurred during the Cambrian, now called the Cambrian Explosion? When did this occur?

A

Rapid diversification (not the first, but extremely rapid expansion of life). It established the foundations for tremendous diversity. Multicellular organisms appeared 50 MY after this explosion.
This occurred 542 to 488 MYA.

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15
Q

What are the 3 domains of life?

A

Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.

Bacteria and Archaea –> prokaryotic (lacking a nucleus)
Eukarya –> eukaryotic (has a nucleus)

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16
Q

Fill in the blank: Multicellularity leads to cell _. Sexual reproduction allows for greater _ diversity through meiosis and crossing over.

A

specialization, genetic

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17
Q

What is endosymbiosis? What formed because of it?

A

Endosymbiosis is the process in which one organism lives inside another. This led to the forming of early eukaryotic cells with mitochondria and chloroplasts.

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18
Q

Has Earth been cooling down or heating up? For how long? Were there any extreme temperature fluctuations?

A

Earth has been cooling since its formation. There were 3 sharp drops during the Proterozoic Eon which caused mass extinctions each time, decimating life.

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19
Q

What is a stromatolite? Why are they important?

A

A mat of cyanobacterial cells that trap mineral deposits. They provide indirect evidence for ancient life, up to 2.7 BYO.

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20
Q

What is a microfossil? Are they easy to find and interpret? If no, why not?

A

A microfossil is a fossilized form of microscopic life. They are not easy to find and interpret since rocks >3 BYO change significantly.

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21
Q

What is the different between an organism being autotrophic or heterotrophic?

A

An autotrophic organism gains its energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, while a heterotrophic organism gains its energy from consuming organic compounds (other organisms).

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22
Q

What was the Miller-Urey experiment?

A

Two scientists re-created the reducing atmosphere conditions in a lab experiment to determine if key molecules of Earth could have formed during that time (they did).

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23
Q

Which eon contains most of the biological history of the diversification of multicellular life?

A

Phanerozoic Eon, which has about 12% of Earth’s history.

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24
Q

When did life emerge and in what conditions?

A

During the Archean eon, about 3.7 BYA. These organisms were prokaryotic (single-celled) organisms, and they lived at very high temperatures. They have limits with cell specialization.

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25
Q

What were the supercontinents mentioned in this unit? List them from oldest to most recent.

A

Rodinia (all continents, appeared 1.3 BYA), Gondwana (Southern Hemisphere continents, appeared 600 MYA, broke up starting 120 MYA), and Pangea (all continents, appeared 335 MYA with Gondwana, broke into the continents today).

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26
Q

What are molecular clocks? What are they calibrated with?

A

The idea that the rate of evolution of a molecule is constant through time.

Calibrated using the fossil record or biogeographically.

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27
Q

How was the early atmosphere of Earth? What process reversed this, and how?

A

Early atmosphere had high temperatues and CO2 levels.

Weathering of rocks reversed this, as atmospheric CO2 reacted to form carbonic acid, which released bicarbonate ions from the rocks into the ocean. This decreased CO2 levels and lowered Earth’s temperature.

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28
Q

Why was Alfred Russell Wallace important?

A

He came up with a similar theory of evolution as Darwin, which prompted Darwin to publish his findings.

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29
Q

A meteor hit the Earth how long ago, and formed what?

A

4.6 BYA; formed the moon.

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30
Q

What is comparative biology?

A

It is the idea that most complex characters do not evolve in one step. Rather, they evolve through a sequence of evolutionary changes over a long period of time.

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31
Q

What are molecular clocks? How can they be calibrated?

A

They are a tool that estimates the time of evolutionary divergence between species by measuring the rate of genetic mutations in mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) and cpDNA (chloroplast DNA).

Calibrated using the fossil record or biogeographically.

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32
Q

What can phylogenetic analysis help determine?

A

Whether a feature is homologous (derived from the same ancestral source) or homoplastic (not evidence of ancestry).

33
Q

What does a paraphyletic group include?

A

The most recent common ancestor of the group, but not all of its descendants.

34
Q

What does a monophyletic group include?

A

The most recent common ancestor of the group and all of its descendants.

35
Q

What is the principle of parsimony (AKA Occams’s Razor)?

A

The simplest explanation, or the one with the fewest assumptions, is preferred/the correct answer.

36
Q

What is homoplasy?

A

A shared character state that has not been inherited from a common ancestor. May result from convergent evolution or evolutionary reversal (a species re-evolves the characteristics of an ancestral species).

37
Q

What is a symplesiomorphy?

A

Shared ancestral states.

38
Q

What is a clade?

A

Species that share a common ancestor, as indicated by the possession of shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies).

39
Q

What does it mean to polarize a characteristic?

A

To determine if the characteristic is ancestral or derived.

40
Q

What is a synapomorphy?

A

Synapomorphy is a shared derived characteristic by clades.

41
Q

What is an apomorphy?

A

Apomorphy is a derived characteristic that arose more recently and is shared only by a subset of a species.

42
Q

What is a plesiomorphy?

A

Plesiomorphy is an ancestral characteristic inherited from the most recent common ancestor of an entire group.

43
Q

What is cladistics and phylogenetic systematics? What types of characteristics are considered informative?

A

Cladistics and phylogenetic systemics is a taxonomic technique for creating hierarchies of organisms that represent true phylogenetic relationship and descent. Phylogenies are used to organize species by evolutionary history and ancestral lineages.

Only synapomorphies (shared derived characteristics) are considered informative about evolutionary relationships!

44
Q

What are the differences and similarities of taxonomy vs nomenclature?

A

Differences: Taxonomy is about taxa (how we organize biodiversity) while nomenclature is about names (how we label biodiversity)

Similarities: Type specimen (a specimen that fixes the application of a name)

45
Q

What is the hierachical classification order from most specific to most broad?

A

Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom, & Domain

46
Q

What did Carolus Linnaeus establish in naming organisms?

A

Binomial nomenclature.

Genus, species X (X = authority initial)

47
Q

What is the K/T Mass Extinction? Do mass extinctions affect the diversification of mammals?

A

The K/T Mass Extinction was the meteor that killed the non-avian dinosaurs 65 MYA.

Mass extinctions, especially K/T, vastly increased the diversification of mammals.

48
Q

How many mass extinctions have occurred? Does everything die?

A

5: Ordovician -> Devonian -> Permian -> Triassic -> Cretaceous

Not everything dies.

49
Q

What is the pace of evolution? What is punctuated equilibrium?

A

Evolution is a gradual accumulation of small changes over a long time.

Punctual equilibrium are long periods of little evolutionary change followed by rapid change.

50
Q

What is character displacement?

A

When 2 reproductively isolated but ecologically similar species come into contact and diverge due to natural selection. This divergence will allow for one species to use resources not used by the other species.

51
Q

What is key innovation? What does it require?

A

A newly evolved trait within a species, allowing it to use resources from its environment that were previously inaccessible.

It requires both speciation and adaptation to different habitats.

52
Q

What is adaptive radiation? Where does it occur?

A

Closely related species that recently evolved from a common ancestor by adapting to different parts of the environment.

Occurs in environments with few species and many resources, especially after mass extinctions.

53
Q

What is sympatric speciation? How does it occur?

A

The creation of a new species from a single ancestral species while inhabiting the same geographical area.

It occurs due to factors that lead to reproductive isolation within the population.

54
Q

What is allopatric speciation? How does it occur?

A

Creation of a new species when they are divided by a physical barrier.

Two stages:
a population becomes geographically separated, preventing gene flow between them.
genetic differences accumulate over generations and reproductively isolate them.

55
Q

How does speciation occur? Where is this more likely to occur?

A

First, one species’ populations must diverge into 2 populations. Then, they must evolve in reproductive isolation enough to become 2 different populations.

It is more likely to occur in geographically isolated populations.

56
Q

What is the phylogenetic species concept? What are the downsides of this concept?

A

Defines a species as a cluster of populations that share a recent evolutionary history as shown on an evolutionary tree. For this, morphological and genetic sequence data is used for the tree.

Downsides: Hard to broadly apply since many species have not been sequenced.

57
Q

What is the ecological species concept?

A

Defines a species based on its ecological adaptations and interactions, emphasizing natural selection.

58
Q

What are some examples of pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms? What are some examples of post-zygotic isolating mechanisms? Give a quick few words to describe each mechanism.

A

Pre-zygotic Isolating Mechanisms:
Ecological
Same habitat but occupy different places and don’t come in contact
Behavioral
Different mating rituals
Mechanical
Different reproductive organs
Temporal
Different mating times
Prevention of gamete fusion
Gametes of one species doesn’t function properly with another’s

Post-zygotic Isolating Mechanisms:
Hybrid inviability/infertility
Embryos do not develop properly, hybrids are sterile, etc.

59
Q

What are pre- and post-zygotic isolating mechanisms?

A

Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms are those that prevent the formation of a zygote, while post-zygotic isolating mechanisms are those that prevent the proper function of zygotes after formation.

60
Q

What is the biological species concept? What are the downsides of this concept?

A

Species are groups of populations that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, while being reproductively isolated from other groups.
Focuses on exchanging of genes (gene flow)

Downsides: All species are not reproductively isolated, there is lots of hybridization in the wild. It is also difficult to apply the concept to populations that are geographically separated in nature.

61
Q

What is the morphological species concept? What are the downsides of this concept?

A

All individuals of a species share measurable anatomical traits that distinguish them from individuals of other species.

Downside: Relying only on morphology creates problems when there is variability within a single species, or when two different species are nearly identical in appearance

62
Q

Why are islands important?

A

Allows for the empty niches to be occupied by plants and animals. The colonizers of these islands often evolve into many species.

63
Q

What is convergent evolution?

A

When species evolve similar traits independently due to similar environmental pressures, despite being only distantly related.

64
Q

What is biogeography? Why is it important?

A

The study of the geographic distribution of species. Important because it reveals convergent evolution.

65
Q

What are vestigial structures? Why are they important?

A

Anatomical structures that have no function but resemble structures ancestors possessed. Important because they show how organisms evolved to adapt to their environments.

66
Q

Are all species perfectly adapted?

A

No, some have workable imperfections. Natural selection works with whatever is available.

67
Q

What are homologous structures?

A

Body parts with similar structures yet different functions due to a shared common ancestor.

68
Q

What are transitional/intermediate fossils? Why are they important?

A

Fossils that have traits of both ancestors and descendants. They are incredibly important because they provide evidence of evolution and help trace the gradual adaptations between different species over time.

69
Q

How are fossils dated?

A

Through radiometric dating; They use the half-life of an isotope to estimate the absolute age of igneous rock.

70
Q

What are some limitations of data from fossils?

A

Fossils only provide information about a single point in time;
A single fossil does not tell you when a species appeared or went extinct;
The total fossil data is incomplete as there are many gaps in the record, bc fossilization is a rare process since conditions must be ideal. Majority of fossils are in inaccessible rock areas.

Spatial/temporal bias
unbalanced collecting of specimens in some years or parts of the year
Preservation bias
not everything survives at the same rate into the historic record

71
Q

Why are fossils important?

A

Fossils are the only evidence of organisms with specific phenotypes existing at a particular location during a specific time period.

72
Q

How do fossils form?

A

Dead organism is covered by sediment
Calcium or other hard tissues in the organism’s bones mineralize
Sediment hardens and forms rock

73
Q

What is artificial selection?

A

Change initiated by humans to favor phenotypic traits and control/speed up natural selection.

74
Q

What is the major idea of Darwin’s theory as outlined in The Origin of Species?

A

Descent with modification: individuals compete for resources and there is variation within species (which relates to fitness and heredity). This all drives natural selection.

75
Q

Why was Alfred Russell Wallace important?

A

He came up with a similar theory of evolution as Darwin, which prompted Darwin to present his findings alongside Wallace (although not fully publish them yet)

76
Q

What voyage did Darwin go on? How long did it last and how long did Darwin spend at the Galapagos?

A

H.M.S. Beagle; Lasted 5 years, Darwin spent only 5 weeks at the Galapagos

77
Q

What did Jean-Baptiste Lamarck believe?

A

Species can change over time to become new species. Changes could be inherited by offspring. Spontaneous generation.

78
Q

What did Charles Lyell believe?

A

Earth was gradually shaped by processes still observable today

79
Q

What did Carolus Linnaeus believe?

A

Genera and species are all natural (meaning, some species are somehow related)

BIOL 214 (2 decks)

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