Intro to Bio Exam III Flashcards
- “All other things being equal, the SIMPLEST solution is most likely the BEST”
- THINK: shaving
Occam’s Razor
- Comparative Anatomy
- Homology
- Analogy
- Convergent Evolution
- Evolution of Cave Organisms
- Industrial Melanism
- Kettlewell’s Experiment
- Resistance
- Evolution in Darwin’s Finches
Evidence for Evolution
- evidence of evolution
- looking at different groups of species and comparing their modification of structures
THINK: vertebrate limb modifications (like how cats and humans are different but have the same/similar bone structure)
Comparative Anatomy
- evidence of evolution
- the theory that some structural similarity is due to SHARED evolutionary origins from to random mutation.
THINK: humans, cats, whales and bats ALL came from a common ancestor
Homology
- evidence of evolution
- the opposite of homology
- the theory that some structural similarity is NOT the result of shared evolutionary origin
EX: just because birds have wings and insects have wings, it does not mean that birds and insects are homologous (i.e. share a common ancestor).
Ex: sharks and dolphins are NOT from a common ancestor! they developed independently.
Analogy
- evidence of evolution
- when two species that are different CONVERGE traits together to look more similar.
- species are NOT related, but look similar
EX: the mantispid and preying mantis look incredibly similar, but are not related.
Convergent Evolution
- evidence of evolution
- organs that have lost their function overtime
Ex: functionless eyes in cave organisms. used to be useful to have, but not useful anymore since there is not any light frequency in caves.
Ex: goosebumps in humans! Used to be a way to keep ourselves warm when we had more hair, but now does not serve its purpose because we no longer have hairy arms to keep warm.
Vestigial Organs
- evidence of evolution
- a process that occurred in peppered moths overtime because of the progressing air pollution.
- had to become darker to keep up with camoflage of the soot on trees.
- an occurrence due to industrialization
Industrial Melanism
- evidence of evolution
- an experiment in which a researcher tagged dark and light moths and released one group of moths into a polluted habitat and another group into an unpolluted habitat
- upon recapturing what was left of the light and dark moths in both environments, there was less population of LIGHT moths in the polluted environment, and less population of DARK moths in the unpolluted environment
Kettlewell’s Experiment
In Kettlewell’s results, as soot production/pollution DECREASED, the proportion of melanic moths (increased/decreased).
THINK: the melanic moth graph! know the relationship of the melanic moths to soot production for the exam. Know the x axis (time), the y axis (melanic moth population), the independent variable (melanic moths), and the dependent variable (pollution level) for the graph.
decreased
- evidence of evolution
- developing ‘immunity’ to something.
EX: Penicillin is not as effective today because people have became used to the drug over time (overuse)
Ex: Covid to vaccines; new variants are made that defy previous vaccines
Resistance
Most causes of resistance to antibiotics, vaccines, and antidotes is due to o______.
Overuse
- evidence of evolution
- finches on the Galapagos islands developed a new trait to their BEAK during the drought months to open hard-to-crack seeds.
- this adaptation occurred over the course of mere weeks (ecological crunches)
Evidence in Darwin’s Finches
In a population, which allele will be MOST COMMON?
a. the dominant allele
b. the recessive allele
c. there is no way to tell
THINK: the most common blood type is O
c. there is no way to tell
The hereditary process (does change/does not change) allele frequency.
THINK: GG x gg
does not change
