Final Flashcards
Metazoa
often synonymous with animals
Opisthokanta
Group consisting of animals, fungi, and some unicellular eukaryotes
Where does the word “science” originate from?
latin word “scientia” (knowledge)
What is science?
System of observations and experiments to gain knowledge about how the universe works
Epistemology
the study of how we know what we know
Inductive reasoning
specific observations to make generalizations
Deductive reasoning
using generalizations to make specific observations
Whigism
the idea that now is better than the past
Who originated the idea of falsifiability?
Karl Popper (1902-1994)
Falsifiability
the idea that science never ends because we can find endless new information
Who originated the idea of paradigm shifts?
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996)
Paradigm shift
the idea that science could end, scientific knowledge is not constantly linear with time, and with new knowledge comes a shift in the paradigm
Scientific method
the hypothetico-deductive method
Is the scientific method inductive or deductive reasoning?
inductive
Control
repetitions of the experiment without treatments
Treatment
changing a variable to test for an effect (independent variable)
What are the two approaches to test a hypothesis?
Experimental and comparative
Law
a description (often mathematical) of how things act
Theory
An explanation based on several facts, hypotheses, and perhaps laws (rigorously tested)
Hypothesis
An explanation for an observation
Fact
Observation
What unique organelles do animal cells have?
plasma membrane
What does the nucleus do?
ribosome synthesis
What does rough endoplasmic reticulum do?
protein synthesis
What does smooth endoplasmic reticulum?
lipid synthesis
True/False: Cytoplasm and cytosol are the same thing.
True
What does the golgi apparatus do?
packages and prepares proteins for secretion
Endosymbiotic Theory (1967)
introduces the idea that descendants of mitochondria were likely free-living alphaproteobacteria that were incorporated into ancient eukaryotic cells roughly 2 billion years ago
Lynn Margulis
developed the idea of endosymbiosis
Monocercomonoides
the only eukaryote that does not have mitochondria
Connective tissue
bone, blood, cartilage
Epithelial tissue
skin, organ cavities
Muscle tissue
skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles
What are the four types of tissues in animals?
Connective, epithelial, muscle, nervous
What cells found in fish have similar functions to the alveoli tissue in the lungs of mammals?
lamella in gills
Are there nuclei in the red blood cells of most vertebrates?
Yes
Are there nuclei in the red blood cells of mammals?
No
Do liver cells or red blood cells contain hundreds of mitochondria?
liver cells
True/False: The average size of cells is different among organisms.
False
Unicellular eukaryote Amoebozoa
closest relatives of animals and fungi
Unicellular eukaryote Choanoflagellates
closest living relatives of Metazoa (animals)
What is the order of Central Dogma?
DNA->RNA->Protein
What is completed in order for DNA to become mRNA in Central Dogma?
transcription
What is completed in order for mRNA to become a protein in Central Dogma?
translation
Where is DNA found in the cell?
nucleus and mitochondria
What is a nucleic acid made up of?
phosphate, sugar, and a nitrogenous base
Which sugar is found in RNA?
ribose
What sugar is found in DNA?
deoxyribose
What are the purine nitrogenous bases?
Adenine and Guanine
What are the pyrimidine nitrogenous bases?
Thymine (DNA), Uracil (RNA), Cytosine
Where do nucleic acids link together?
along a phosphate backbone
Which nitrogenous bases link together with 2 hydrogenous bases?
Adenine and Thymine
What nitrogenous bases link together with 3 hydrogen bonds?
Cytosine and Guanine
What do complementary strands of DNA form?
double helixes and chromosomes
How do you know something is an enzyme?
ends in -ase
What is translation?
converting mRNA into proteins
What does a set of three nitrogenous bases become?
codons
Gene
a sequence that codes for a functional polypeptide or RNA sequence
Costs of social behavior
more likely to be spotted by predators and spread parasites/disease
Altruism
behaviors that appear to benefit others at one’s own expense
Kin selection
closely related individuals are more likely to engage in altruistic behaviors
Monogamous mating
restricted to one mate
Social monogamy
a pair bond that is not sexually exclusive
Polygyny
one male, several females
Polyandry
one female, several males
Innate behavior
instinctive
Learned behavior
flexible, based on experience
Proximate explanation for behavior: “How?”
neurons that control their behavior
Ultimate explanation for behavior: “Why?”
innate and learned behaviors
Behavior ecology
study of behaviors to promote survival and reproduction in natural habitat
Behavior
an organism’s response to external stimuli
Why is predicting future animal distributions important?
for conservation and agricultural purposes
How are insects displaced to a new area?
wind currents and attaching to humans or animals
Vicariance
separation via physical barrier
Dispersal
movement to a new geographic location
What are the ways animal distribution can change?
dispersal and vicariance
Historical biogeography
seeks to reconstruct past distributions and understand how they got to where they are today
How is historical biogeography typically approached?
from a phylogenetic perspective
Food web
relating species according to how they acquire nutrients
Community
combination of different species
What model is used to compare the population sizes of predators and prey?
Lotka-Volterra Model
What can competition for resources lead to?
specialization and resource partitioning
Community ecology
interactions among populations
Carrying capacity (K)
maximum number of individuals that can persist under specified environmental conditions
Can K change over time?
yes
Intrinsic limit to growth (r)
unlimited rate of growth; births - deaths per generation
Demography
properties of the rate of growth and age of a population
Metapopulation
two or more geographically distinct demes
Deme
a local population of closely related individuals
Biotic
living components
Abiotic
non-living components
Environment
combinations of biotic and abiotic factors
Niche
the role of an organism in its environment
Ecology
study of relationships between organisms and their environment
What does modern taxonomy use a combination of?
genetics and morphology
Taxa
plural
Taxon
singular
-idae
animal family ending
Linnaean Classification System
hierarchical classification system; DKPCOFGS
“L” in modern papers
name was first used by Linnaeus
Taxonomy
study of principle of scientific classification; systemic ordering and naming of organisms
Morphology
traits vs. genetics
Chronogram
branch lengths are unit of time
Phylogram
branch lengths represent rates of change
Cladogram
branch lengths only show relationships
Clade
common ancestor and all of its descendants
Root
most recent common ancestor of all taxa in the tree
Node
represent common ancestors for all descendent lineages
Phylogeny
hypothesis about evolutionary history of a lineage
Macroevolution
large-scale evolutionary changes that take place over long periods of time
MIcroevolution
evolutionary change within a small group of organisms, especially over a short period
Evolution
combination of random and non-random changes in allele frequencies over time
Allele
mutated gene
Mutation
random change in allele with respect to needs of organism
Selection
non-random change in allele depending on an organism’s environment
Genetic drift
random change in allele frequencies that occurs in small populations
What three components does natural selection need?
heritability, variation, and difference in fitness
Fitness
measure of how well organism functions in environment
Heritability
offspring resemble parents more than random individuals
What changed in Darwin’s finches based on the type of food that was available?
beak size
Natural selection
process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment
Darwin
evolution occurs through shared common ancestry
Polygenic
multiple genes involved in a trait
What did Gregor Mendel work with?
pea plants
Gametes
a haploid (n) reproductive cell
What does a slight allele change lead to?
dramatic genotypic or phenotypic change
Genome
the total amount of DNA in a haploid set of chromosomes (or organelle)
Ploidy
the number of copies of chromosomes in a cell or organism
What is a eukaryote?
cell that contains membrane-enclosed nuclei
Animal body plans
body symmetry, number of embryonic germ layers, and structure of body cavities
How are animal body plans typically assigned?
based on the external appearance of an animal; can require dissections and microscopy
Three main categories of body plans
asymmetrical, radial, bilateral
Asymmetrical body plan
has no symmetrical pattern
What are the only two Phylums to have an asymmetrical body plan?
Porifera, Placozoa
Where was Placozoa first discovered?
an aquarium tank in 1883
What size are Placozoa?
2-3 mm
Where are Placozoa found?
marine
Radial body plan
can be divided in half by two or more planes
What two Phyla are radially symmetrical?
Ctenophora, Cnidaria
How do Ctenophores swim?
fused cilia (combs)
What and how do Ctenophores eat?
zooplankton caught with tentacles
How many Cnidarian species are freshwater?
20
How old is Phylum Cnidaria?
over 500 million years old
Bilateral body plan
two mirrored halves
