lect 1 history of evolutionary thinking Flashcards
what is the evidence for evo?
- shared features
- classification (phylogeny)
- fossil record
- geographical distributions
- geological history (time scale)
- direct observation
what did peter and rosemary’s study include?
their study in the 1970s was on galapagos finches.
- major drought
- only large seeds persisted
- only large beak birds survived
- increase in beak length in the population
- as normal seeds came back beaks decreased in size
What generally did the greek philosophers observe?
- nature ruled by laws
- body parts theory (primitive selection)
- Expanse of time (fossils in rocks that had been previously under water)
(Greek philosophers) What did Aristotle contribute?
- hypothesis testing
- great chain of being: a graduation in nature. But no change of species
Al- Jahiz?
- food chains (interconnectedness)
- survival of the fittest
Linnaeus (Swedish 1707-1778) contribution? and implications there of?
- Classification system (taxonomy)
- Binominal nomenclature
- showing hybridisation
- idea of change
- hierarchical discontinuity
Leclerc ( French 1707-1788) contributions?
- profound influence on the next generation of french philosophers
- Species exhibit change
- questioned human and ape relatedness
- earth much older than 6000 years
Lamarck (French 1744-1829) contributions?
- evolutionary mechanism of lamarckism
- increasing complexity over time but along same phyletic line
- acquired characteristics inherited by offspring (giraffe necks)
Hilaire (French 1772-1844) contributions?
- unity of composition theory: structural plan basic to all animals
- comparative anatomy
- homology (shared ancestry between a pair of structures)
Cuvier (French 1769-1832) contributions? get anything wrong?
- paleontology: proved extinctions through fossils
- correlation of parts: relationships/ phylogenetics
-catastrophism instead of gradual change
Charles Lyell (British 1797-1875) contributions?
- geologist popularised James Huttons concept of uniformitarianism: constant gradual changes over time
- influenced Darwin: earth millions of years old
Robert Malthus (british 1766-1834) contributions?
- essay on the principles of population: human population increases exponentially whereas, food supply only increases geometrically
- therefore, competition/ survival of the fittest: lots of individuals die: natural selection
who did Darwin present the ideas of natural selection with? and why is darwin more known for it?
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- darwin wrote origins of species + contributed more to the field after
