Grade 11 EVOLUTION Pt 1 Flashcards
Name the 3 main types of adaptations. (Bonus: think of an example)
Structural, Behavioral, Physiological
Define “structural adaptation”
A physical trait. Such as bigger eyes and strong legs or camouflage or mimicry.
Define “behavioral adaptation”
A change in how an organism acts. Such as migration and hibernation.
Define “physiological adaptation”
Internal processes. Such as venom production or sweating.
What is an adaptation
A feature or trait that helps organisms survive and reproduce.
Why and when do mutations occur
Spontaneously during DNA replication or cuz of environmental factors
Inherited mutations come from mutations in the _____
Gametes
Why does genetic variation exist
Heritable random mutations, and recombination of alleles
What is evolution
A change in heritable traits in a population over multiple generations
Who’s Charles Darwin and what’d he do
English Naturalist - travelled around the world in the HMS Beagle gathering animal and plant specimens, observing diversity and making observations about “evolution”
What term does Darwin use instead of evolution
Descent with modification
Why doesn’t Darwin use the term “evolution”
Because evolutions implies progress and improvement, but what it really is is a change that can’t be predicted to really be good, or bad.
What is biological fitness
The measure of an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in the given environment a.k.a. Survival of the fittest
How did Alfred Wallace contribute to Darwin’s theories
Alfred Wallace also travel to different places but despite never interacting to before, Darwin and Alfred came too much of the same ideas and conclusions
Name of the vehicle Darwin went on his 5 year voyage on?
HMS Beagle
What is natural selection
It is a mechanism/process that helps explain how evolution takes place. When organisms are better at survival, they live and reproduce, making the next generation inherit better traits
What were Darwins 4 main criteria for natural selection to occur
- Limited resources
- Variation
- Individuals with better/worse biological fitness
- Heritable adaptations
Name the 7 scientists important to the history of evolution
- George-Lewis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
- Georges Cuvier
- Charles Lyell
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
- Thomas Malthus
- Charles Darwin
- Alfred Wallace
What did Georges Cuvier do
Founder of paleontology, the study of ancient life through fossils
• noticed in his studies that new species will appear and some will go extinct the deeper in you go
• prompted the idea of extinction through catastrophism
What was the popular belief about the origins and existence of life before the 1600s?
All life existed, unchanged, as created by God
And so it was believed living things were perfect and did not need to change.
What significant shift occurred in the 1600s regarding the study of the natural world?
Observations and experimentation began to be used, marking the beginning of a more scientific approach to understanding life.
Who was Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon?
A scholar who challenged the idea that living things could not change
• He noted similarities between humans and apes, suggesting a common ancestor.
What did Buffon suggest about the age of the Earth?
He was the first to suggest Earth was much older than 6000 years, which Lyell reinforces later in time
What was Charles Lyell’s stance on geological changes?
Rejected catastrophism; favored uniformitarianism, a slow, gradual change over time lead to the big changes we see today
