Midterm 1 Flashcards
Who came up with the idea of Biodiversity?
E. O. Wilson
What did EO. Wilson say about biodiversity?
The totality of inherited variation in all organisms of a selected area
Why is evolution important?
B/c nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution
What are the 4 things evolution allows us to understand?
1- diseases
2- explains diversity of life on earth
3- agriculture = plant/animal breeding and origin of crops
4- managing wildlife
What is biology defined as?
The study of living organisms and life processes
What are the. 4 major concepts of biology?
1- hierarchy of biological organization
2- emergent properties of systems
3- diversity of life
4- evolution
Explain Hierarchy of biological organization as a major concept of biology
Life can be organized into structural levels.
At each successive level additional emergent properties appear
What are the 8 different levels in the hierarchy of biological organization?
1- Atomic level 2- Molecular level 3- Organelle level 4- Cellular level 5- Tissue level 6- Organ level 7- Organ system level 8- Organism level
Instead of the 8 levels of hierarchy of biological organization, what are the 14 structures?
1- atoms 2- complex biological molecules 3- sub-cellular organisms 4- cells = basis units of structure and functions (similar cells are organized) 5- tissues, 6- organs 7- organ systems 8- individuals = complex organisms 9- group, 10- population 11- community, 12- ecosystem 13- biomes, 14- biosphere
What are the 6 levels of organizations in biodiversity? Where does evolution happen?
1- Species 2- subspecies 3- population (evolution happens here) 4- individuals or phenotype 5- genotype 6- DNA
Explain Emergent properties of systems as a major concept of biology
Properties that arise as a result of interactions between component parts
Give 2 examples of emergent properties of systems as a major concept of biology
1- Hydrogen bonding between water molecules
2- spontaneous folding of polypeptide chains
Explain Diversity of life as a major concept of biology
There is 1.2 million species of living organism that have been describes and classified
BUT total # not yet described could be 9-11 million
What is classification as a part of diversity of life on earth?
Categorized diverse items into small # of groups
What is taxonomy?
Branch of biology that names and classifies species into hierarchical order
What is the modern taxonomy system called? When was it made? By who?
Binomial nomenclature - 1735 by Carolus Linnaeus
What are the 7 levels of Binomial nomenclature?
1- kingdom 2- phylums 3- class 4- order 5- family 6- genus 7- species
How do we write the names of the organisms in binomial nomenclature?
Genus then Species
Both italicizes but only genus Capitalized
How has the binomial nomenclature changed since its invention?
Used to be only 5 kingdoms - now 6-8 added
Added 8th layer = Domain - higher than kingdom
What are the 3 Domain levels?
Bacteria
Archaea
Eukarya
What 2 things can be said about the 3 domains?
1- bacteria and archaea are prokaryotes
2- archaea more closely related to eukarya than bacteria
What 4 kingdoms of the domain Eukarya do we need to know?
1- animalia
2- Fungi
3- plantae
4- Protista
What is the underlying diversity of life on a microscopic level?
Sticking unity
What is the universal genetic language?
DNA unites
In eukaryotes unity is evident in?
Many details of cell structures
What is evolution?
Combination of unity and diversity of life
Explain Evolution as a major concept of biology
The core theme of biology = how life evolves
Explain the tree of life (3)
- Each species is one twig
- Species that are very similar = share common ancestor = 2 twigs from recent branching point
- similarities in cellular structure (cilia) = common ancestor for all eukaryotes
How is all life connected?
Through evolution
What did Charles Darwin come up with and in what year?
The origin of species - in 1859
What was darwin’s 2 main ideas in the origin of species?
1- contemporary species arose from a secession of ancestors through “descent with modification” = evolution
2- mechanism of evolution is natural selection
Explain Darwin’s descent with modification
Similarities between species grouped in same taxonomic category
What is an example of descent with modification?
Forearms in humans, cats, whales and bats = share same skeletal elements but different functions b/c they diverged from ancestral tetrapod forelimbs = they have homologous structures
What was Darwin’s first observation about NS?
Individuals in a pop of any species vary in many heritable traits
What was Darwin’s second observation about NS?
Any pop can potential produce far more offspring then the environment can support = struggle for existence among variant member of pop
What was Darwin’s conclusion about his two observations fro NS?
Those individuals with traits best suited to the local environment will generally leave more surviving and fertile offspring
What can NS do over long periods of time?
Produce new species from ancestral species
If a pop is fragmented into isolated groups what will happened to them?
Began as one species diverse is into many - each changing to adapt to its different environmental problems
What is adaptive radiation?
Flinches of Galápagos Islands diversified after an initial colonization from the mainland to exploit different food sources on different islands
What does descent with modification account for?
Both the unity and diversity of life
Where is descent with modification generally seen?
Feature shared by 2 species due to their descent from a common ancestor
How can NS have an impact of descent with modification?
Modifies ancestral equipment in different environments
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the first observation?
From plant and animal breeders - variation among individuals in pops exists and is an inherent property of pop
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the second observation?
From plant and animals breeders - variation is heritable (=genetics)
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the third observation?
From Malthus - pop can only grow a certain size (carrying capacity) in a particular environment and then reach a steady state
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the fourth observation?
Darwin - organisms produces large # of offspring each generation and tend to have a geometrical rate of increase
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the first deduction?
Darwin - in. Each generation many more offspring are produced than can possibility survive
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the second deduction?
Darwin - there is a “struggle for existence” among members of each pop
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - What is the third deduction?
Darwin - individuals possessing variations that enable them to compete better than others in same pop in the “struggle for existence” will leave more offsprings = favorable traits will increase freq in pop over time as long as environment remains same = NS
Flow chart showing Darwin and NS with 4 observations and 3 deductions - Which observation supports which deduction?
Ob #1 (Inherent) - Ded #3 (Variation)
Ob #2 (genetics) - Ded #3 (variation)
Ob #3 (capacity) - Ded #1 (more offspring)
Ob #4 (Geometrical) - Ded #1 (more offspring)
What is geological time?
Fossil evidence of life up to 3.5 BYA or BYBP
How long has fossil evidence shown homo spines have been in extended for?
500,000 yrs
What are the 3 different fauna of time?
1- Cambrian
2- Paleozoic
3- Modern
What are the 5 mass extinctions as a feature of life on earth over geological time?
1- end of Ordovician 2- end of Devonian 3- end of Permain 4- end of Triassic 5- end of Cretaceous
What is the second feature of life on earth over geological time?
Turn over of species diversity
What is the third feature of life on earth over geological time?
Origin of a group doesn’t necessarily coincide with its radiation (proliferation (rapid increase in numbers) or diversification)
What is an example of the third feature of life on earth over geological time?
Mammals = originated early but once last ice age was over were allowed to expand and turn into many species
What are the 5 evidences of evolution?
1- direct observation of evolution in action
2- fossil records
3- anatomy and embryology
4- biogeography = pattern, processes and distribution
5- molecular biology = DNA and RNA
What did Darwin believe to be impossible about evolution?
That it could happen within a lifetime
Give 2 examples of evolution with a lifetime
1- antibiotic resistant bacterias
2- herbicide resistant plants
What is 1 of 4 direct observations of evolution?
1- E. Coli grown in glucose. Limited “broth” contained citrate. E. Coli cannot use critate for food but after serval years one group did
What is 2 of 4 direct observations of evolution?
Elephants hunted for tusks = some groups have become tusk less
What is 3 of 4 direct observations of evolution?
Darwin’s flinches on Daphne Major island = beak grew shorter and smaller for foods
What is 4 of 4 direct observations of evolution?
HIV evolution in 9 different people = HIV has variations
Define evolution
Descent with modification
What is genotype?
The underlying genetic makeup of an organism or of a phenotype
What is phenotype?
An observed trait expressed by an organism
What is a gene?
A physical and functional unit of DNA - could be a sequence of DNA that codes a protein
What is the Locus?
A position on a xsome - physical know position of a gene on a xsome
What is an allele?
Variations that arise by mutation an exist at that some locus on homologous xsome
What is a species?
A group of potentially interbreeding individuals that is reproductively isolated from other groups
What is a subspecies?
A recognized (named) tax on below the species level
What is a population?
A group of individuals with roughly equivalent probability of mating with each other
Define evolution
Descent with modification
What is genotype?
The underlying genetic makeup of an organism or of a phenotype
What is phenotype?
An observed trait expressed by an organism
What is a gene?
A physical and functional unit of DNA - could be a sequence of DNA that codes a protein
What is the Locus?
A position on a xsome - physical know position of a gene on a xsome
What is an allele?
Variations that arise by mutation an exist at that some locus on homologous xsome
What is a species?
A group of potentially interbreeding individuals that is reproductively isolated from other groups