Lecture 1: What is Evolution? Flashcards
Theory of Evolution
- living things change gradually over time
2. Adaptations have arisen through natural selection
Important conclusions about evolution verified by scientific study?
- organisms on earth have changed through time
- changes are gradual
- lineages split by speciation producing biodiversity
- all species have common ancestors
biodiversity
the variety of life on earth (number and kinds of living organisms in a given area)
Adaptation
process- the evolutionary process that leads to the origin and maintenance of such traits
state- any trait that makes an organism better able to survive or reproduce in a given environment
Macroevolution
Evolutionary History
- determining the evolutionary relationships of organisms in terms of common ancestry
- study of long-term patterns
- comparative data from sub disciplines of systematics, biogeography, palaeontology, morphology, molec. bio
Microevolution
Evolutionary Mechanisms
- determining the particular mechanisms and processes responsible for evolutionary change
- focuses primarily on studying population level
- experimental and comparative studies of the genetics and ecology of populations
Approaches used in evolutionary biology?
- observational (describe and quantify)
- theoretical (develop models)
- comparative (obtain same data from many species)
- experimental (manipulate a system to address a specific hypothesis)
What are some of the public doubts about evolution?
- Very recent theory (150 years)
- very personal implications about us as a species (hairless monkeys w big brain)
- Violates literal interpretations of religious texts
scientific theory
- supported by diverse sources of empirical observation
- principles are inferred from observation and experimentation
- have testable and falsifiable hypotheses
