Intro to Evolution

Question 1

Theory of Evolution

Answer 1

The central unifying concept of biology
* Affects many other areas of knowledge
* One of the most influential concepts of
Western thought

Question 2

The Theory of Evolution

Answer 2

1) Living things change gradually over time
2) Adaptations have arisen through natural
selection
* Challenges view of special creation
(= direct creation of all things in effectively
their present form)

Question 3

Important conclusions about evolution
verified by scientific study

Answer 3

Organisms on earth have changed through time
* The changes are gradual not instantaneous
* Lineages split by speciation resulting in the
generation of biodiversity
* All species have common ancestors
* Adaptations result from natural selection
Biodiversity and adaptation are therefore products of evolution

Question 4

Biodiversity

Answer 4

the variety of life on earth
* the number and kinds of living organisms in a given
area

Question 5

Adaptation

Answer 5

has two meanings; state or process
* Any trait that makes an organism better able to survive
or reproduce in a given environment
* The evolutionary process that leads to the origin and
maintenance of such traits

Question 6

Evolutionary history

Answer 6

macroevolution

Question 7

evolutionary mechanisms

Answer 7

microevolution

Question 8

Evolutionary History

Answer 8

Determining the evolutionary
relationships of organisms in terms of
common ancestry
* Study of the long-term patterns in
evolution
* Comparative data from sub-disciplines
of systematics, biogeography,
paleontology, morphology, development,
molecular biology and genomics

Question 9

Evolutionary Mechanisms

Answer 9

Determining the particular microevolutionary
processes responsible for evolutionary
change (e.g. natural selection)
* Focuses primarily on the population level
* Experimental and comparative studies of
the genetics and ecology of populations
* Major forces of evolution: to come

Question 10

Approaches used in
evolutionary biology

Answer 10

A variety of approaches are used to address
scientific questions
* The strongest studies use more than one
source of evidence:
* Observational – describe and quantify
* Theoretical – develop models: verbal, graphical,
mathematical, computational
* Comparative – obtain same data from many species
* Experimental – manipulate a system to address a
specific hypothesis; requires an experimental design
and statistical analysis

Question 11

Why does self-fertilization evolve?

Answer 11

(theory, observations, experiments in the field)

Question 12

How did self-fertilization evolve

Answer 12

(genetic crosses, molecular biology)

Question 13

When did self-fertilization evolve

Answer 13

(evolutionary history, analysis of genetic variation)

Question 14

What are the consequences of evolving self-fertilization?

Answer 14

(genome studies)

Question 15

Why is Evolution Relevant?

Answer 15

1) My Kid’s question
2) Medicine
3) Agriculture
4) Environment
5) Life on Earth a.k.a Biology!!

Question 16

Questions in Evolutionary
Medicine

Answer 16

1) Can we predict cancer evolution?
2) Can we design an evolution-proof drug
treatment against pathogens?
3) Why are many diseases common in certain
human populations?
4) What are the origins of viruses and bacteria
in human populations?

Question 17

Public Doubts About Evolution

Answer 17

1) Extremely recent! 150 years very brief
timeline
2) Very ‘personal’ implications: direct
ramifications about who we are and where
we came from
3) Violates literal interpretations of religious
texts- but this applies to other sciences as
well, e.g. geology, astronomy, physics,
biochemistry

Question 18

Scientific Theories

Answer 18

are supported by diverse sources of
empirical observation
* principles are inferred from observation
and experimentation
* have testable and falsifiable hypotheses