Quiz Nov. 12

Question 1

What is Genetic Drift? Describe the two mechanisms.

Answer 1

Genetic Drift: A random change in allele frequency
Bottleneck Effect: a change in allele frequency following a dramatic reduction of population
Founder Effect: Change in allele frequency as a result of a small group migrating

Question 2

What is the basis of genetic variation?

Answer 2

Lateral Gene Transfer: Bacteria swap traits between individuals and species
Genetic Recombination: meiosis and crossing-over during sexual reproduction
Mutation: a random change in genetic data

Question 3

Fitness

Answer 3

describes how well an organism can survive an reproduce in its environment

Question 4

Adaptation

Answer 4

an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment

Question 5

Natural Selection

Answer 5

Process by which organisms with variations most suited to their local environment survive and leave more offspring

Question 6

What are the requirements for Natural Selection to occur?

Answer 6

1) the struggle for existence - more individuals are born that can survive
2) Variation and Adaptation - heritable, advantageous traits
3) Survival of the Fittest - fitness among individuals

Question 7

Taxonomy

Answer 7

method of classifying organisms

Question 8

Binomial Nomenclature

Answer 8

classification system in which each species is assigned two-part scientific name

Question 9

Cladogram

Answer 9

a diagram depicting patterns of shared characteristics among species

Question 10

Clade

Answer 10

a common ancestor and all of its descendents

Question 11

Phylogeny

Answer 11

the study of evolutionary relationships that exist between species

Question 12

Molecular Phylogeny

Answer 12

Phylogeny in therms of genetic data

Question 13

Species

Answer 13

population or group of populations whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring

Question 14

Speciation

Answer 14

a process by which new species are formed

Question 15

What is reproductive isolation? What are the different mechanisms of reproductive isolation?

Answer 15

Reproductive Isolation: separation of a species or a population so that they can no longer interbreed; evolve two separate species
Behavioral: different behaviors (courtship rituals) that prevent breeding
Geographic: separated by geographic location
Temporal: reproduce at different times

Question 16

Adaptive Radiation

Answer 16

a small population evolves into many different forms

Question 17

Vestigial Structures

Answer 17

inherited from ancestors but have lost much or all of their function

Question 18

Analogous Structures

Answer 18

body parts that share common function

Question 19

Homologous Structures

Answer 19

structures that are shared by a related species and have inherited from a common ancestor

Question 20

Common Ancestor

Answer 20

two species that evolved from the same species long ago; separated because of derived characters

Question 21

Genotype

Answer 21

genetic makeup of an organism

Question 22

Phenotype

Answer 22

physical traits or characteristics of an organism

Question 23

Allele

Answer 23

one of a number of different forms of a gene

Question 24

Frequency

Answer 24

occurrence percentage in a population

Question 25

Convergent Evolution

Answer 25

different species evolve independently to form similar structures due to similar environments

Question 26

Coevolution

Answer 26

process by which two people evolve in response to changes in each other over time

Question 27

Evolutionary Trade Off

Answer 27

A trait that does not increase or decrease fitness because advantageous and unadvantageous traits that come with the trait cancel out

Question 28

Puncuated Equilibrium

Answer 28

isolated episodes of rapid speciation between long periods of no to little change

Question 29

Gradualism

Answer 29

gradual changes in evolution