Organisms And Evolution Flashcards
What is divergent evolution?
The development of differing life forms from a common origin.
Why is convergent evolution?
The separate evolution of similar phenotypic adaptations in lineages whose ancestors did not share these adaptations.
What random process causes evolution?
Genetic drift
What non random processes cause evolution
Natural selection and sexual selection
What is genetic drift?
The random increase or decrease in frequency of inherited traits over a number of generations.
Genetic drift has a greater effect In
Smaller populations.
What is sexual selection?
An increase in the frequency of alleles that make mating and reproduction more likely.
Absolute fitness
The ratio of frequencies of a particular genotype in one generation compared to the previous generation.
Factors that increase the rate of evolution
Higher selection pressures Shorter generation times Warmer environments Sexual reproduction Horizontal gene transfer
What is the red queen hypothesis
Both species are constantly evolving in response to changes in other species.
Benefits of asexual reproduction
Metabolic costs are lower
Production of offspring is rapid
Every member of population can reproduce
Disadvantage to sexual reproduction
Metabolic costs are higher
Reproduction rate is much slower
Disrupts successful parental genomes
What is parthenogenesis?
A process by which some animal species produce offspring asexually without needing makes for fertilisation.
Where is parthenogenesis more commonly found in?
Areas with lower partition like cooler climates.
What are homologous chromosomes?
Chromosomes of the same size, same centromere position and has the same genes at the same loci.
How does sexual reproduction increase variation?
It involves crossing over, independent assortment & combining haploid genomes from two individuals.
What is independent assortment
Homologous chromosomes are aligned in pairs irrespective of the parental origin.
What is a sessile organism?
An organism that does not move (fixed in one place).
Features of r selected organism
Smaller species
Many offspring
Lower chance of survival
Less parental investment
Features of k selected organisms
Larger
Fewer offspring
Longer lifespan
Larger parental investment
What happens in polygamy?
Each individual may mate with several others in the same reproductive season.
What happens in monogamy?
Each individual only shares gametes with one other individual.
What happens in ritualised courtship behaviours?
A specific sign stimulus from one individual produces a specific fixed-action pattern response in the other.
What is sexual dimorphism?
Differences in characteristics between two sexes of the same species.
What is reversed sexual dimorphism?
The female is larger or more brightly coloured than the Male.
What is a sneaker male?
Makes which can superficially resemble the female in appearance in order to avoid Male-Male rivalry.
What is lekking?
Communal display by groups of males in order to attract females.
What is the ecological niche?
The multidimensional summary of tolerances and requirements of a species.
What is the fundamental niche?
The niche an organism occupies when there is no interspecific competition.
What is the realised niche?
The niche an organism occupies when interspecific competition is present.