Ideas of Evolution

Question 1

Catastrophism

Answer 1

Earth experienced many destructive catastrophic events (floods, droughts, volcanic
eruptions, etc.) which caused the extinction of species that were then replaced by new species form a
region nearby (refer to Figure 8.2 p.327)

Question 2

Uniformitarianism

Answer 2

geological changes are slow and continuous (not catastrophic) and that slow subtle changes can result in substantial change

Question 3

Line of descent

Answer 3

Through comparing current species with fossils he came up with the idea “line of descent”
- Line of descent is the family tree, showing how species evolve.

Question 4

Inheritance of acquired traits

Answer 4

Speculated that organisms become better adapted to their environments and body parts used most often become stronger. Then this trait is passed on to their offspring.

Question 5

Survival of the fittest

Answer 5

organisms compete for limited resources. Organisms with favourable traits that help them survive will have an increased chance of reproduction. If they reproduce, a growing number of the population will have these traits in later generations

Question 6

Descent with modification

Answer 6

theory that natural selection does not show progress but results in the ability to survive local environmental conditions