Macroevolution Flashcards
1
Q
What do theories say about evolution and complexity
A
Maynard Smith and Szathmary:
- Increase in complexity through small number of major transitions
- Change in transfer of genetic information
- Change in organisation of biological systems
2
Q
What are characteristics of major transitions?
A
- Entities that were capable of independent replication before the transition now only replicate as part of a larger whole
- Division of labour
- New ways of transmitting information
3
Q
What is symbiosis?
A
Bringing together the genetic content of two organisms
4
Q
What is the fallacy of progress?
A
- Evolution doesn’t necessarily lead to higher complexity
- An improvement in immediate fitness may be achieved by losing body parts
- Gould: apparent increase in complexity is due to focus on the extreme
5
Q
Why is RNA important for macroevolution?
A
- Replicates
- Stores genetic information
- Transmits information
- Duplicates information
- Can have enzymatic activity
6
Q
What are advantages of cellular life?
A
- Can control internal environment
- Localisation of metabolites
- Localisation of genes
7
Q
What are disadvantages of cellular life
A
- Cell division
- Transmembrane transport
8
Q
How have eukaryotic cells evolved?
A
- Lost outer cell wall
- Gained organelles
- Gained intracellular membranes
- Organised its genome
- Gained introns
9
Q
How has multicellularity evolved?
A
- Evolved many times
- Cellular speciation
- Complex development
- Coordination among cells
10
Q
What are body plans?
A
The overall layout of an organism’s body
11
Q
What did plants and animals require when they colonised the land?
A
STAR
- Structural support
- Transport of materials within organism
- Ability to reproduce on land
- Resistance to drying out
12
Q
How have intelligence, language and culture developed?
A
- Improvement in general cognitive ability
- Increase in brain size
- Anatomical changes to enable speech
- Improvement in grammatical competence
13
Q
What is the Baldwin effect?
A
A biological trait becomes innate as a result of first being learned
