Task 4 Flashcards
What were Charles Darwin’s contributions to knowledge?
Description of new species; Importance of cross-fertilization: Development of evolutionary theory.
What was Charles Darwin’s impact on science?
Focused on similarities among animals and humans; Pointed to importance of heredity; Developed a theory of how life adapts to changing situations.
What did Darwin discover in regards to fertilization in plants?
many plants were capable of self-fertilization, but they avoided it. Instead, they chose cross-fertilization.
-> Cross-fertilization produced variation in offspring that was more vital and sometimes resulted in creation of new type of flower.
What does Darwin’s evolutionary theory state? (Natural selection)
Natural selection is a process by which the environment results in the continuation and multiplication of organisms with certain genetic features (favorable features) and hinders the reproduction of those with other genetic features (unfavorable features).
What is meant by survival of the fittest and who coined the term?
- Herbert Spencer tried to describe the outcome of natural selection
- only organisms that fit within environment and can produce viable offspring, survive.
What is the dilution problem?
Jenkin’s dilution argument -When an organism with a new feature is placed amid a group of other organisms, this new feature will not expand, but it will dilute in the pool of existing features, until virtually nothing remains in the end.
What are two common misunderstandings of the evolutionary theory?
- Genes induce a change in an organism so that it becomes more adapted to environment
- Each genetic mutation that survives results in better, stronger, more complex organism
What was Darwin’s influence on Galton?
Galton (1822-1911) was one of the first to examine implications of Darwin’s theory for human functioning.
Who were the three key figures, that influenced Darwin?
- Grant: mentor
- Lyell: provided Darwin with a basis with his ‘Principles of geology’
- Paley: gave Darwin a sense of wonder for natural beings
What were the three findings Darwin made on his voyage?
- Fossils he dug up in Patagonia
- Geographical distribution patterns of South American Rhea
- Animal life of Galapagos Archipelago
What did Darwin find when he dug up fossils in Patagonia?
- remains of extinct mammals
- continuity of type: extinct animals were built on same anatomical plan as current inhabitants of Patagonia
What was interesting about the Geographical distribution patterns of South American Rhea?
- Darwin saw that closely related species do not generally inhabit same area
What did Darwin see on the Galapagos Archipelago?
- He got the chance to see a big diversity of animals he had never seen before
- He collected many animals and many varieties of ‘same’ animal.
What did Lyell propose in his ‘Principles of Geology’?
- accumulative changes: added up to substantial geological effects
- Uniformitarianism: no God-given direction or progression
What are the three essential parts of Darwin’s evolutionary theory?
All we need for evolution is
- inheritance
- variation
- selection
