Lecture 1 Flashcards
Overview of Evolution - Evidence of Evolutionary change
What is the theory behind the theory of evolution?
Evolution is the unifying theme of biology
- Explains the diversity of life
- Explains how species continue to change and evolves to their lifestyle and environment.
What is the definition of evolution?
Heritable changes in one or more traits of a population or species from one generation to the next
What is the definition of microevolution?
Changes in a single gene in a population over time
What is the definition of macroevolution?
Formation of new species or groups of species
What is empirical thought in the context of the history of evolution?
This thought relies heavily on more observation to form an idea or hypothesis, rather than relying on understanding life through a non-physical or spiritual point of view, as it usually was back in the 1600s.
What is the definition of a species?
Group of related organisms that share a distinctive form.
They are able to reproduce sexually, with members of the same species capable of interbreeding to produce viable and fertile offspring
What is the definition of a population
Members of the same species that are likely to encounter each other and thus have the opportunity to interbreed
Who was one of the first individual to study the natural world in the mid-1600s
John Ray
He developed an early classification system to organize organisms and species that is still used today
Who suggested that life forms are not fixed in the 1700s
George Buffon suggested that life forms change over time while John-Baptiste Lamarck realized that some animals remain the same while others change.
They had the belief that living things evolved upwards towards human perfection
Suggested the inheritance of acquired characteristics
What is the uniformitarianism hypothesis - taken from geology
Slow geological processes lead to substantial changes
Who was Thomas Malthus
He said that only a fraction of any population will survive and reproduce
- Human population is capped by our limited resources on Earth
What subjects did Charles Darwin study and take into consideration during his studies
Geology
Economics
Went on sail on the voyage of the beagle
What influenced Darwin’s observation
Influenced by his own observation
He noticed distinctive traits of island species that allowed them to better exploit their environment
Noticed this in the Galapagos Island Finches
Saw similarities in species yet noted differences that provided them with specialized feeding strategies
When and who did Darwin form his theory of evolution?
Formulated his theory by mid-1840s
Alfred Wallace sent Darwin his theories which proposed many of the same ideas so they published their papers together
Published On the Origin of Species in 1859
What is the definition of variation within a given species
Traits heritable - passed from parent to offspring
Genetic basis was not yet known about
