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1
Q

What is the significance of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution?

A

It is one of the most revolutionary ideas in Western thought, challenging the prevailing worldview of fixed species.

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2
Q

What does ‘special creation’ refer to in the context of evolutionary biology?

A

The belief that each species was individually created by God in its current form.

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3
Q

Who developed the notion of the ‘Great Chain of Being’?

A

Christian theologians and philosophers.

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4
Q

What was the contribution of Carolus Linnaeus to evolutionary biology?

A

He established the framework of modern taxonomy in his work Systema Naturae.

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5
Q

What philosophical movement began to challenge the literal interpretation of the biblical creation story?

A

The Enlightenment.

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6
Q

What principle did geologists James Hutton and Charles Lyell expound?

A

The principle of uniformitarianism.

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7
Q

Who proposed the first significant pre-Darwinian evolutionary hypothesis?

A

The Chevalier de Lamarck.

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8
Q

What is Lamarckism?

A

The theory of evolution based on the principle of inheritance of acquired characteristics.

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9
Q

Fill in the blank: Giraffes lengthened their necks through _______.

A

acquired characteristics.

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10
Q

What was Charles Darwin’s role on the HMS Beagle?

A

Naturalist and captain’s companion.

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11
Q

What did Darwin observe during his voyage on the Beagle?

A

The natural history of South America and the Galápagos Islands.

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12
Q

What inspired Darwin’s theory of natural selection?

A

Thomas Malthus’s essay on human population growth.

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13
Q

What was the key idea Darwin derived from Malthus’s essay?

A

Natural selection, where favorable variations are preserved.

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14
Q

True or False: Darwin completed his book titled Natural Selection before 1858.

A

False.

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15
Q

Who independently conceived the theory of natural selection alongside Darwin?

A

Alfred Russel Wallace.

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16
Q

When was On the Origin of Species published?

A

November 24, 1859.

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17
Q

What was the original title of Darwin’s book before it was revised?

A

The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

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18
Q

What did Darwin continue to do for the rest of his life after publishing Origin of Species?

A

Read, correspond, revise his theories, and perform experiments.

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19
Q

What other notable work did Darwin publish later in his life?

A

The Descent of Man.

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20
Q

What area did Wallace significantly contribute to in biology?

A

Biogeography, the geographic distribution of species.

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21
Q

Fill in the blank: Wallace referred to the concept of natural selection as _______.

A

Mr. Darwin’s theory.

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22
Q
A
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23
Q

What are the two major theories presented in The Origin of Species?

A
  1. Descent with modification
  2. Natural selection
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24
Q

Define descent with modification.

A

All species, living and extinct, have descended from one or a few original forms of life

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25
How does Darwin's view of evolution differ from Lamarck's?
Darwin emphasizes common ancestry, while Lamarck's theory lacks this concept.
26
What is natural selection according to Darwin?
The chief cause of evolutionary change; survival of the fittest.
27
Fill in the blank: Darwin's principle of preservation is called _______.
natural selection
28
What is the key difference between Darwin's and Lamarck's theories regarding individual organisms?
Darwin's theory is variational, while Lamarck's is transformational.
29
List the five distinct components of Darwin's theory of evolution.
* Evolution as such * Common descent * Gradualism * Populational change * Natural selection
30
What does gradualism propose?
Differences among organisms evolve by small steps through intermediate forms.
31
Define populational change in the context of Darwin's theory.
Evolution occurs by changes in the frequencies of different variant kinds of individuals within a population.
32
What does natural selection explain?
Adaptations that fit organisms to their environment.
33
How did Darwin explain the evolution of different features in species?
Features are adaptive under different conditions of life.
34
What gap existed in Darwin's theory regarding hereditary variations?
He never explained the source of hereditary variations.
35
What was the prevailing belief about inheritance during Darwin's time?
Blending inheritance, where variation should decrease.
36
Who solved the problem of hereditary variation and how?
Gregor Mendel proposed particulate inheritance.
37
What is the significance of Mendel's theory of particulate inheritance?
It allows variation to persist across generations.
38
What was the impact of The Origin of Species on various biological subjects?
It advanced and reinterpreted research in taxonomy, paleontology, anatomy, embryology, biogeography, physiology, behavior, and ecology.
39
True or False: Darwin's theory suggests that new hereditary variations do not continue to arise.
False
40
What did most scientists accept by the 1870s regarding evolution?
Most scientists accepted the historical reality of evolution by descent, with modification, from common ancestors.
41
Who promoted the exploration of evolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
The German zoologist Ernst Haeckel promoted the exploration of evolution.
42
What was the period known as a 'golden age' in evolutionary biology?
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were known as a 'golden age' of paleontology, comparative morphology, and comparative embryology.
43
What theory did most scientists reject for about 60 years after Darwin's publication?
Most scientists rejected Darwin's theory of natural selection.
44
What are some alternative theories proposed instead of natural selection?
Alternative theories included neo-Lamarckian, orthogenetic, and mutationist theories.
45
What does neo-Lamarckism propose?
Neo-Lamarckism includes theories based on the inheritance of modifications acquired during an organism’s lifetime.
46
What experiment did August Weismann conduct?
August Weismann cut off the tails of mice for many generations to show that this mutilation had no effect on the tail length of their descendants.
47
What is orthogenesis?
Orthogenesis, or 'straight-line evolution,' is the idea that variation is directed toward fixed goals, evolving in a predetermined direction.
48
Did proponents of orthogenesis propose a mechanism for it?
No, none of the proponents of orthogenesis ever proposed a mechanism for it.
49
What do mutationist theories suggest?
Mutationist theories suggest that new phenotypes arise by mutation and that natural selection is not necessary for the origin of species.
50
Who was Richard Goldschmidt?
Richard Goldschmidt was the last influential mutationist who argued that new species originate by sudden, drastic changes reorganizing the whole genome.
51
What is the evolutionary synthesis?
The evolutionary synthesis is the consensus that reconciled Darwin’s theory with genetics, emphasizing natural selection acting on genetic variation.
52
What is neo-Darwinism?
Neo-Darwinism is often referred to as the principle that adaptive evolution is caused by natural selection acting on particulate genetic variation.
53
Who developed a mathematical theory of population genetics?
Ronald A. Fisher, John B. S. Haldane, and Sewall Wright developed a mathematical theory of population genetics.
54
What did Sergei Chetverikov and Theodosius Dobzhansky contribute to evolutionary biology?
Sergei Chetverikov pioneered the study of genetic variation in natural populations, and Dobzhansky conveyed population geneticists' ideas to other biologists.
55
What did Dobzhansky argue in his book 'Genetics and the Origin of Species'?
Dobzhansky argued for the genetic basis of evolution and the importance of genetic variation.
56
Who were other major contributors to the evolutionary synthesis?
Other major contributors included Ernst Mayr, Bernhard Rensch, G. Ledyard Stebbins, and George Gaylord Simpson.
57
What are the major causes of evolution according to the evolutionary synthesis?
The major causes of evolution are mutation, gene flow, natural selection, and genetic drift.
58
What is the difference between microevolution and macroevolution?
Microevolution refers to evolution within species, while macroevolution accounts for the origin of new species and major alterations distinguishing higher taxa.
59
What does 'Neo-Darwinism' refer to?
'Neo-Darwinism' refers to Weismann’s strict version of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
60
How did Darwin's view on inheritance differ from Weismann's?
Darwin admitted a role for inheritance of acquired characteristics, while Weismann rejected this.
61
What significant advancement in biology occurred in 1953?
James Watson and Francis Crick established the structure of DNA.
62
What is molecular evolution?
Molecular evolution is the analysis of the processes and history of changes in genes.
63
Who developed the neutral theory of molecular evolution?
Motoo Kimura developed the neutral theory of molecular evolution.
64
What does evolutionary developmental biology study?
It studies how the evolution of developmental processes underlies the evolution of morphological features.
65
What is evolutionary genomics concerned with?
Evolutionary genomics is concerned with variation and evolution in multiple genes or entire genomes.
66
What can genomic data reveal about species?
Genomic data can reveal phylogenetic relationships, genetic bases of adaptive characteristics, and histories of populations.
67
Since the mid-1960s, what areas has evolutionary theory expanded into?
Evolutionary theory has expanded into ecology, animal behavior, and reproductive biology.
68
Who were some key evolutionary theoreticians mentioned?
William Hamilton, John Maynard Smith, and George Williams.
69
What is the elementary process of evolution?
The elementary process of evolution is a change across generations in the frequencies of alleles or genotypes.
70
True or False: Evolution occurs at the level of the individual.
False.
71
What causes nonrandom changes in allele frequencies?
Natural selection causes nonrandom changes in allele frequencies.
72
What is a trait shaped by natural selection called?
An adaptation.
73
What do species represent in evolutionary terms?
Species represent separately evolving 'gene pools'.
74
Fill in the blank: Speciation usually occurs by the genetic differentiation of _______.
geographically isolated populations.
75
What is one way higher taxa arise in evolution?
Higher taxa arise by the sequential accumulation of small differences.
76
What is the Tree of Life in evolutionary biology?
The Tree of Life is the concept that all organisms evolved by branching from common ancestors.
77
What are the fundamental principles of biological evolution derived from?
The modern synthesis.
78
True or False: Acquired characteristics are inherited.
False.
79
What causes genetic variation?
Genetic variation arises by random mutation.
80
What enables biologists to determine phylogenetic relationships with greater confidence?
Advances in genomic data.

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