Lecture 3

Question 1

When was Darwin born and when did he die

Answer 1

born in 1809 and died in 1992

• feb 12 1809 and april 19 1882

Question 2

What are 2 of Darwin’s insights (although incomplete) from the formation of modern evolutionary theory?

Answer 2

1. explained how biodiversity came to be (through variation and natural selection)
2. documented examples from natural and artificial selection

Question 3

What did the Greek Philosopher Plato claim

Answer 3

• claimed that every organism was an example of a perfect essence or type created by God and that these types were unchanging
• these ideas are referred to as typological thinking these days

Question 4

What are 4 things about Aristotle and his scale of nature (‘great chain of being’)

Answer 4

• species were fixed types
• species were organized into a sequence based on increasing size and complexity
• sequence started with minerals and lower plants
• humans were at the top of the chain ofc

Question 5

What are acquired characteristics?

Answer 5

• somatic modifications of individuals are not heritable (only genetic changes are) and not permanent

Question 6

Darwin claimed that WHAT among individuals in a population was the key to understanding evolution

Answer 6

variations

Question 7

Paleontology provided early evidence from fossils that life has changed.
Fill in the blanks!

• Fossils ______ but are not exactly the ____ as modern species
• Extinctions are a ____!

Answer 7

• resemble, same
• fact

Question 8

What was the HMS Beagle?

Answer 8

• a royal navy ship, 10 gun brig-sloop, 90 feet long, very crowded conditions (74 people on board)

Question 9

What years were the Voyage of the Beagle?

Answer 9

from 1831 to 1836

Question 10

what is the main purpose of the voyage of the beagle?

Answer 10

• mapping coast of South America, and voyage around the world making latitude/longitude measurements

Question 11

the voyage of the beagle was supposed to take 2 years, but how long did it take?

Answer 11

2-yr voyage extended to 5 years

Question 12

What did Darwin do during this

Answer 12

only 22 years old, started the voyage and collected many fossils and living organisms while reading “Principles of Geology” by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell during the Beagle voyage.

Question 13

What did Charles Lyell’s book demonstrate?

Answer 13

• demonstrated that natural processes observable today were also responsible for past events (volcanoes, floods, erosions)
• supernatural processes not needed

Question 14

What does Galapagos mean?

Answer 14

• it is the Spanish word for tortoise Islands

Question 15

What are 4 of Darwin’s Galapagos observations?

Answer 15

In the Galápagos Darwin notes:
- a great number of ‘aboriginal creations’ (endemic species, found only there)
- variation among islands
- ‘gradation and diversity’ among birds
- similarities to South American species

Question 16

What is a phylogenetic tree?

Answer 16

• a diagram that illustrates the ancestor-descendant relationships among taxa

READ
researchers compared mockingbird DNA and placed the birds on a phylogenetic tree, which shows that:
- they share a single common ancestor
- the different Galápogos mockingbird species are each others’ closest living relatives

Question 17

What does endemism mean?

Answer 17

• species found nowhere else on earth

Question 18

Galapagos endemism - isolation on volcanic islands and volcanoes

• give one example

Answer 18

Galápagos tortoise

• tortoise shell variations on different volcanoes on the same island
• each volcano has a unique species of Galápagos

Question 19

What are Darwin’s Four Postulates?

Answer 19

• observation 1 - individual variation
• observation 2 - inheritance
• observation 3 - overproduction
• observation 4 - competition
• individuals best-adapted to their environment have a better chance of survival

Question 20

explain individual variation

Answer 20

• individuals within a species vary in their traits (characteristics)

Question 21

explain inheritance

Answer 21

• traits are inherited by offspring from their parents

Question 22

explain overproduction

Answer 22

• more individuals are born than can survive in a stable population

Question 23

explain competition

Answer 23

• individuals compete for resources

Question 24

how did Darwin & Wallace’s theory of evolution by natural selection change the way scientists think?

Answer 24

• it shifted evolutionary thinking from individuals (Lamarack) to populations
• it provides a mechanism (natural selection) for evolution that allows us to make scientific tests and predictions (ex. rise of antibiotic resistance in bacteria)