Introduction to Evolutionary Biology Flashcards
Microevolution =
changes within a species in an observable time frame
An example of Microevolution:
peppered moths changing colour during industrial evolution
Macroevolution =
changes in the type and number of species over a long period of time
The diversity of mammal fossils found 66Mya is much less than that found after 60Mya. We found that mammalian diversity increased between 66 Mya and 60 Mya. Was this information Inferred or Observed?
Inferred - we did not actually observe it, but infer the change from the historical data available
The peppered moth went from all typical individuals to 95% melanic individuals between 1800 and 1900 in Manchester. Was this change inferred or observed?
Observed - We observed the evolution of the peppered moth, as we saw this directly
3 Reasons we Study Evolution?
- Curiosity (to understand living organisms)
- Philosophical (how we got here, our place in nature)
- Utilitarian (how things evolve - management of drug resistance)
Lamarck believed that…
- Theory of use and disuse
- Acquired transmission
- Increasing complexity
- No extinction
- Heritability
- Selective pressure
Drawin believed that…
- Theory of natural selection
- Variations
- Extinction or species creation
- Heritability
- Selective pressure
Who believed that traits were acquired by use and disuse of traits?
Lamarck
who believed that over time, species comes to resemble the variants with higher reproductive success?
Darwin (and Wallace)
Similarities between Lamarck and Darwin?
- Heritability (traits passed down to young)
2. Selective pressure (changes could be very useful and could help organisms to survive)
The three ifs and a then of natural selection:
If:
1. individuals vary in a character
2. some of that variation is heritable
3. variants differ in mean number of offspring produced
Then:
Next generation of population will be biased to variants that results in a greater mean number of offspring
Darwin’s Struggle for existence refers to…
The competition or battle for resources needed to live
Darwin’s Tree of life suggests all life evolved from one common ancestor. What information supports this theory?
- Same biological processes in all organisms (protein synthesis)
- Shared DNA across different kingdoms (animals and plants)
- Homologous structures in vertebrates (forelimbs)
Does Young Earth creationism allow for speciation?
No - species created separately by creator
