History of Evolution Flashcards
Why is studying evolution important?
- to appreciate the place of evolution within modern biology and within science in general
- to develop an understanding of the main kinds of evidence for evolution and the main areas in need of further research
What is evolution?
- simply means change
- Darwin described it as ‘descent with modification’
- others have described it as a change in allele frequencies over time, in living organisms
What was the scala naturae?
- concept by Aristotle, called the ‘great chain of being’
- it was a ladder of life, that showed linear evolution of organisms from simple to complex
- assumed species were permanent, and unchanging, and each species was perfectly adapted to its specific environment
What evidence showed the scala naturae to be incorrect?
- transitional fossils, and all concepts of modern evolution proves the ‘ladder of life’ to be wrong
Who was Carolus Linnaeus?
- early 1700’s
- developed the binomial system of naming organisms
- was not an evolutionist
What is uniformitarianism?
- The idea that the ‘present is key to the past’.
- AKA events that occur now most likely occurred in the past as well.
- developed by James Hutton
What is gradualism?
- the idea that features of the Earth result from slow accumulation of events such as those we see occurring now.
- developed by James Hutton
Who was James Hutton?
- 1720-1790’s
- father of modern geology
- developed ideas on uniformitarianism an gradualism
Who was Jean Baptiste Lamarck? Was he pro evolution?
- French naturalist from 1740-1830
- developed the ‘theory of evolution’ in 1809
- thought that organisms continually change during their life to be better adapted to their environment, and that features acquired during an individuals life could be passed onto offspring.
What is catastrophism?
- idea developed by Georges Cuvier
- only natural catastrophes, like giant floods, could account for the form of our Earth.
Who was Georges Cuvier? Was he pro evolution?
- french naturalist/zoologist in 1770-1830
- developed idea of catastrophism
- STRONGLY opposed evolution.
Who was Charles Lyell? Was he pro or con evolution?
- Scottish geologist from 1797-1875
- thought that the earth was very old, and made Huttons ideas on uniformitarianism and gradualism more accessible
- originally did not want to accept evolution, but later did accept and could not deny darwins ideas
Who was Charles Darwin?
- natural historian from 1800-1880
- surveyed south America, galapagos, new Zealand etc.
- Wanted to figure out where species came from
What is the order (from oldest to most recent) of individuals who contributed to evolutionary thought
- James Hutton
- Jean Baptiste Lamarck
- Georges Cuvier
- Charles Lyell
- Charles Darwin
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- Gregor Mendel
what were some of Darwins observations?
- He recognized that similarity and dissimilarity occurred within regions
- variation on a basic form within a region is due to descent with modification
and redundant forms from place to place due to common ancestry
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
- british naturalist/biologist from 1820-1910
- independently from Darwin proposed theory of evolution due to natural selection
- always gave credit to Darwin
Who were two major opponents of Darwin’s theory of evolution via natural selection? Why?
- Richard Owen: Thought natural selection was too simple to explain evolution
- Louis Agassiz: Thought life was the divine plan of god
Who were defenders of Darwin’s theory of evolution via natural selection?
- Joseph Hooker
- Asa Gray
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- Thomas Huxley
What were the main criticisms for Darwin’s theory of natural selection?
- Lack of mechanism for inheritance (genes not yet considered)
- Fossil record gaps (Hadn’t discovered transitional fossils)
- Complex structures. How can small gradual changes create complex body plans
- Origin of the fittest (where do adaptations come from, mutations not yet understood)
- religious and philosophical objections
What are examples of major evidence of evolution?
- “Transitional animals”: such as transitional fossils, discovery of ‘missing-link’ animals
Who was Gregor Mendel?
- 1820-1880
- discovered and published the principles of inheritance
- ‘solved’ a problem Darwin was aware of concern in his theory of Natural selection
What is Modern Synthesis?
- A movement that marries Darwinian evolution and natural selection with genetics, systematics, and paleontology
- Where microevolution explains macroevolution
