The Modern Synthesis Flashcards
while Mendel discovered a physical
basis for the mechanisms described by Dawrin, modern synthesis biologists used math to – this mechanism
quanitfy
3 of history’s greatest scientist that collaborated in the 1930-1950s to synthesize evolutionary biology
Dobzhansky
Mayr
Simpson
ukrainian geneticist who linked genetics (microevolution) to modern synthesis wrote Genetics and the Origin of Species
Theodosius G Dobzhansky
Dobzhansky provided the current definition for evolution which is
change in allele frequency over time
German Ornithologist who linked taxonomy and species to the modern synthesis , he wrote the book “systematics on the origin of species” which described allopatric speciation
Enrst Mayr
Enrst Mayr described the biological species concept which defines species as
as a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring under natural conditions,
American who linked paleontology to the modern synthesis (fossil record and macroevolution) he wrote “tempo and mode in evolution” as well as ‘splendid isolation’
George Gaylord Simpson
5 major facts from the modern synthesis
1 populations have genetic variation from mutation and recombination
2 populations evolve via the 4 mechanisms (NS, mutation, GF, GD)
3. phenotypic changes are gradual
4. diversification by speciation is usually gradual and from reproductive isolation
5. processes result in larger differences creating higher taxonomic categories
what were the Big 3 developments of the modern synthesis
1 Dobzhansky’s genetic and origin of species which described microevolution
2. Mayr’s systematics and the origin of species which describe speciation
3. Simpson’s Tempo and Mode in Evolution which described macroevolution
what is the mechanistic framework for evolution? (4 parts)
natural selection
mutation
gene flow
genetic drift
