History of evolution Flashcards
What theory did Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace propose
natural selection is the mechanism of evolution
how long has the theory of ‘natural selection is the mechanism of evolution’ been supported
200 years of reproducible experimental evidence
What did William Smith discover
He uncovered fossils while analysing the geology of a mine in england and discovered relative dating by the layer of rock found on fossils
what is relative dating
Relative dating is used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave behind, in a sequence without absolute age
What did Jean Baptiste de Lamarck discover
Lamarckian theory - inheritance of acquired characteristics. If an organism changes during its lifetime in order to adapt to its environment, those changes will be passed onto its offspring.
what did august wiesmann do
disproved the Lamarckian theory by cutting off the tails of mice and their offspring still having tails
What brought about Charles Darwins hypothesis
why different populations of finches looked so similar if new and different being had been placed on different islands at the time of creation
how was natural selection already in place before darwin
humans selectively bred animals and wild traits were often lost as species become more domesticated
what did Thomas Malthus do
wrote the paper an essay on the principle of population which described that the human race would run over earth if not kept in check
what did darwin conclude from malthus’s paper
under changing circumstances favourable variations would be preserved and unfavourable ones destroyed
who was Alfred Russell Wallace
he proposed the theory of natural selection as the mechanism of evolution and wrote letters to darwin outlining his ideas
why is darwin more well known
because he published the book on the origin of species by means of natural selection
