Lecture Exam #1 Flashcards
in 1859 when a new era of biology began, what did Charles Darwin publish?
The Origin of Species
what did the Origin of Species focus biologigts’ attention on?
the great diversity of organisms
what can evolution be defined by?
Darwin’s phrase descent with modification
what can evolution be viewed as?
a pattern and a process
who was the founder of taxonomy, the branch of biology concerned with classifying organisms?
Carolus Linnaeus
who was Darwin influenced by?
Thomas Malthus
what did Malthus note?
the potential for human population to increase faster than food supplies and other resources
who hypothesized that species evolve through use and disuse of body parts and the inheritance of acquired characteristics?
Lamarck
were Lamarck’s mechanism’s supported by evidence?
no
what helped darwin lay the groundwork for his ideas?
fossils
is the newest strata on top or bottom?
top
remains or traces of organisms from the past
fossils
where are fossils usually found?
in sedimentary rock, which appears in layers called strata
During Darwin’s travel of the Beagle what did he collect?
South American plants and animals
what was Darwin influenced by and thought the earth was more than 6,000 years old?
Lyell’s Principles of Geology
what was Darwin’s interest in geographic distribution of species kindled by?
a stop at the Galapagos Islands west of South America
what did he hypothesize about the species from South America?
that they had colonized the Galapagos and speciated on the islands
when Darwin reassessed his observations what did he precieve as to why the environment and the origin of new species are a closely related process?
adaption
what did Darwin conlude from his voyage?
that adaption must be what happened to the finches
when species become different species
speciation
Darwin’s 3 broad observations (UDM)
1) the unity of life
2) the diversity of life
3) match between organisms and their environment
the belief that Darwin had that all organisms are related through descent from an ancestor that lived in the remote past.
Descent with modification
a process that Darwin noted where humans have modified their species by selection and breeding individuals with desired traits
artificial selection
what was Darwin’s first observation?
members of a population often varied in their inherited traits