Module 2: Evolution and Speciation Flashcards
C22: Which predecessors had major influences on Darwin and Wallace in their forming the theory of evolution?
Lamarck, Lyell, and Malthus
C22: How do differences between species allow them to be well-suited to the environment they are found in?
C22: How can the theory of evolution explain the many differences observed between species?
C22: How can the theory of evolution explain the similarities among different and even distantly related species?
C22: How does natural selection work, and what five premises underlie Darwin’s theory?
C22: Why do we say that the population is the fundamental unit of evolution?
C22: How can you distinguish “homologous” vs “convergent” traits (such as in examples from the book)?
C23: What is the gene pool in a population of organisms?
C23: How do you calculate allele frequencies in a population?
C23: What is Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE)?
C23: What are the assumptions of HWE?
C23: How can we use HWE to assess whether a population is evolving?
C23: Be able to calculate the expected genotype frequencies of a population under HWE
C23: What is genetic drift, and why is drift especially important in small populations?
C23: Why is natural selection the only evolutionary process that can lead to adaptation?
C23: What is the difference between directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection?
C24: Explain the major species concepts, particularly the biological species concept.
C24: Why are there more than one species concept?
C24: Why might each species concept be useful?
C24: What are some examples of reproductive isolation mechanisms? (include pre- and post-zygotic isolation mechanisms)
C24: Are there any advantages of pre- vs. post-zygotic isolation?
C24: Why is allopatric speciation much more common than sympatric speciation?
C24: In plants, hybridization & polyploidy can produce new species. How does that cause reproduction isolation? (hint: think about meiosis)
C24: What are some examples of hybrid zones?
C24: What will happen if reproduction isolation is incomplete when populations come back into contact?
C24: How can hybrid zones sometimes lead to reinforcement or fusion?
Species concepts (list three)
Morphological (species concept)
Biological (species concept)
Ecological (species concept)
Isolation mechanisms (list two)
Prezygotic (isolation mechanism)
Postzygotic (isolation mechanism)
Types of PREZYGOTIC isolation
Types of POSTZYGOTIC isolation
Lineage
Clade
Sister species
Reproductive isolation
Speciation (what is / list two types)
Allopatric (speciation)
Sympatric (speciation)
Polyploidy
Hybrid zone
Reinforcement
Fusion
Stability
C26: Know how to read and interpret a phylogenetic tree
C26: What is the difference between homology and analogy? Give an example of each.
C26: Why are homologous characters necessary to understand phylogenetic relationships?
C26: What is the principle of Parsimony? How is it used to reconstruct phylogenies?
C26: Why do evolutionary biologists focus on shared derived characters (“synapomorphies”) when reconstructing phylogenies?
C26: How can you identify ancestral vs derived characters?
C26: If phylogenetic trees are hypotheses, how can they be tested?
C26: Know the hierarchical levels (ranks) of the Linnaean classification system
Domain > Kingdom > Phylum > Class > Order > Family > Genus > Species
C26: Why do we try to have taxonomic groups (families, genera, etc.) correspond to monophyletic clades?
Monophyletic group
sometimes called a clade, includes an ancestral taxon and all of its descendants
Sister taxa
