Exam 1 Flashcards
phylogenetic/ evolutionary definition of vertebrates
1st organism w/ backbone + all descendants
So vertebrates comprise about 3% of all named species.
As small a number as that is, it is a gross overestimate. Why?
bigger - more practical to study; anthropomorphism; economics; individual ecology/ “ecosystem engineers”/ disproportionate ecological impact; humans are vertebrates
About 300 new species of vertebrates are described each year. But if
vertebrates are so conspicuous, how could entire species be around for
thousands of years without anyone noticing??
size, remote locations
Turtle Pres. 1: Using Molecular Markers to Detect Hybridization in Map turtles
- Frederick Sanger = fluorescently tag nucleotides
- Gel electrophoresis separates molecules of diff size
- DNA evidence can be used to detect hybridization
- overlap in range of false and common map turtles
- Common = slow moving water
- False = faster currents
- cool temperatures - produce males, warm=females
- Common females -> head gigantism
- Questions focus on hybridization and impact
How do new species arise?
Anything that causes reproductive isolation between populations w/in a species
What does “operationality” refer to when discussing species concepts?
ways to put it into practice, useful, testable (as opposed to a philosophical def. that is not testable)
Operational Predictions of Evolution Species Concept
None - philosophical: -2/10
Op Predictions of Biological Species Concept
producing sexually viable offspring, (lions & tigers = one species) doesn’t cover asexual species, -1/10
Op Pred of Phylogenetic Spec. Concept
using character states and different versions (character states) -> looking for fixed differences
Op Pred of Concordance Spec. Concept
“unlinked” and “epistatic markers” that agree with each other
unlinked - need independent confirmation
epistasis-two genes that affect each other
(Agree = agreeing whether or not things are the same species or not)
Op Pred of Cohesion Spec. Concept
- starts w/ nulll hypothesis (assume same species), see if there’s anything to disprove
- test for gene flow, look for physical (geographic) barrier
- must be genetically and demographically exchangeable (see slides)
- A+
Why is this argument over species concepts important?
conservation (due to the legislation of conservation); big field + can lead to fame; biodiversity (we need to know when speciation happens)
Turtle Pres.2: Methods
- using molecular markers to detect hybridization in map turtles
- detect hybridization by looking at mitochondrial DNA
- tissue samples
- Isolated repeats of hybridization
- MEGA to make tree
Figures important to history of classification
Aristotle-classifications - swam, walked, flew
Carolus Linnaeus - hierarchy, scientific names (important b/c they are unique), grouping based on morphology then
What underlying assumption is now incorporated into taxonomy, causing an
upheaval of this system?
-naming/ grouping based on phylogeny now
Why can it be said that ‘species’ is the only biologically meaningful
designation?
other classifications are more subjective, whereas ‘species’ has discreet criteria
When we account for patterns of descent, the Linnaeus’ methodology of
simply lumping similar looking organisms gets thrown out. Why then, are so
many taxonomic designations unchanged from his time?
morphology often reflects phylogeny
What evolutionary scenarios are most likely to cause an incongruency
between Linnaeus’ system and current taxonomy?
convergent evolution
Each frog genus contains ~15 species. Each bird genus contains <5
species. Why the disparity?
people have studied birds more, so smaller differences are more studied -> classified more specifically
classification
a very broad term which simply means putting things in
classes
Taxonomy
giving names to things
Phylogeny, also known as a cladogram.
the ``tree of life’’ - the hierarchical structure by which every life-
form is related to every other life-form.
Systematics
the process of trying to classify living things according to their
phylogeny.
phylogenetic systematics or cladistics.
The method of weighting certain “important” traits based on their
evolutionary history is called
Turtle Presentation Part 3: Conclusions etc.
- one branch false map, one common map
-some of the morphologically false map turtles ended up on the common map branch
-Incomplete lineage sorting - descendants of diff species can have same thing
-Bidirectional hybridization
-linkage disequilibrium - none - freely mating, no linkage (hybrids can mate with non-hybrids, etc)
IN CONCLUSION:
-hybridization has occurred
-no assortive mating
-no selection against “genome mixing”
-Dietary differences may be driving speciation
Willi Hennig declared that groups should only be identified on the basis of what?
derived characters
Apomorphy
a derived trait - a trait that I have, but my ancestor didn’t (bipedalism in humans)
synapomophy
a shared, derived trait
common ancestor has it, but it’s ancestors don’t
derived homology (feathers for birds)
only applies when there are multiple branches
depends on makeup of group
Plesiomorphy
traits inherited unchanged from an ancestor
Symplesiomorphy
shared ancestral characteristic (cell nucleus for birds)
depends on makeup of group
useless from cladistics standpoint