Unit 1 Flashcards
List the characteristics of scientific methodology
- Materialism 2. Empiricism 3. Logic
Holds that natural phenomena are governed by natural laws and that these laws impart a predictability or regularity to these phenomena. Furthermore, these laws remain in force in all places and at all times (they are generally applicable) and can be observed, evaluated and therefore, understood.
Materialism
Careful observations and data collection of natural phenomena to document and explain how the natural world operates
Empiricism
Rules of reasoning that allow one to discern truth. There are two approaches in logic: deductive reasoning (that a more general premise leads to a specific outcome or conclusion) and inductive reasoning (a specific observation or set of observations are generalized and therefore said to apply much more broadly).
Logic
List the steps (in order) of the scientific method
- Initial observation 2. Formulate a hypothesis 3. Experimental design 4. Data collection 5. Data analysis 6. Present the results 7. Peer review 8. Publication
When forming a hypothesis it must be…
Testable, falsifiable and have a predictive value
Null hypothesis
No significant difference (Ho)
Alternate hypothesis
Significant difference (HA)
An experimental group that has not been manipulated
Control group
An experimental group that has one variable that has been changed.
Treatment group
When establishing an experimental design what must be considered
Establish groups - control - treatment Assumptions (simplicity vs realism) Feasibility Cost Duration Ethical considerations Replication
English physician (1797-1875) that Believed in Intelligent design and compared creation to the inner workings of a watch.
William Paley
Refers to the overall structure or design
Morphology
Structure of an organism in finer detail. Primarily the arrangement of cells and tissue types
Anatomy
A science that is a comparative endeavor
Biology
Noting similarities and differences between organisms
Comparative morphology and anatomy
The concept that allows one to make comparisons between organisms. Refers to a correspondence or equivalent of structures
Homology
A theoretical construct designed to emphasize common elements in a diverse set of organisms. (do not actually exist in nature)
Archetype
A body plan or ground plan
Bauplan
English anatomist/morphologist (1804-1892) who coined the term homology (Homology / analogy) “…the same structure under every variety of form and function…”
Richard Owen
What parameters are similarities in homology based on?
- Mature structures 2. Position with the body of the organism 3. Developmental patterns 4. Similar functions (?)
Species with same ancestry with same structures that may look different are
Homologous
Parallel / convergent evolution; species with different structures that appear very similar due to the organisms change in its environment
Analogous
The modern basis for classifying organisms is degree of evolutionary relatedness / relationships
Phylogenetic systematics (cladistics)
Man who introduced The principles of geology (uniformitarianism) (1797-1875)
Charles Lyell
Man who showed concerned with exponential population growth (1766-1834) “…misery and vice…”
Thomas Robert Malthus
Geometric growth
Exponential growth
Graph that represents exponential growth where the population begins to to even out when it reaches the carrying capacity.
Sigmoid growth curve
Growth rate maximal growth rate and carrying capacity are represented by what
r - growth rate rmax - maximal growth rate k - carrying capacity
When birth rate equals death rate
Zero population growth
French naturalist who believed - goal oriented evolutionary change - spontaneous generation - favorable characteristics through use/disuse are passed to the offspring
Jean-Baptiste de Lamark
Coined the term “survival of the fittest”
Hubert Spencer
English naturalist who wrote the origin of the species, and determined natural selection as the mechanism for species change
Charles Darwin
English naturalist who originally came up with a similar idea of natural selection. Charles Darwin discussed his findings and they presented them together.
Alfred Russell Wallace
Darwinian natural selection
- Variation in population 2. Physical differences associated with differences in reproductive success (fitness) 3. Populations grow beyond the environment capacity to support them 4. Competition ensues (Intraspecific and interspecific) 5. Differential reproduction and survival of so-called “favored” variation
What are the two mechanisms of evolutionary change
- Natural selection (non-random) 2. Genetic drift (random)
A graph that is bell shaped signifies what
Normal distribution
When a species fitness favors one of the extremes and the bell shifts right or left on a graph. Same shape, different position
Directional selection
When a species fitness favors the majority and the bell on a graph stays in the same position but has a different shape.
Stabilizing selection
When a species fitness favors both extremes, graph represents a different shape and bimodal position
Disruptive selection
German Naturalist/Zoologist - Described many new species of invertebrates; emphasized that developmental patterns revealed evolutionary history; coined the terms phylum, phylogeny and ecology.
Ernst Haeckel
English Zoologist/Anatomist/Educator - An eminent comparative anatomist and evolutionist; presented persuasive arguments for evolution in a debate with the Anglican bishop Samuel Wilberforce (1860); coined the term agnostic to describe his own religious sensibilities.
Thomas Henry Huxley
Swiss Paleontologist and Geologist - A renowned comparative anatomist and morphologist who specialized in fish systematics and taxonomy; studied the influence of glaciers and ice sheets on geologic formations; founded the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University; a creationist who adhered to the idea of a Biblical Genesis.
Louis Agassiz
American Botanist and Taxonomist - Documented and classified the North American flora; a friend and close colleague of Darwin .
Asa Gray
English Zoologist/Evolutionary Biologist - Helped to develop the modern synthesis in biology;coined the terms clade, grade and (ecological) cline (a spectrum of variation in a species associated with its’ geography).
Julian Huxley
This combines Darwinian natural selection and population genetics
The Modern Synthesis in Biology
Developed the cladistic method, also known as phylogenetic systematics
Willi Hennig
Any describable feature or attribute of an organism
Taxonomic Character
A particular form or expression, one among several, for a given character. (needs to be at least two)
Character states
What are two Character types
- Qualitative
- Quantitative
States or catagories are created through the use of mutually exclusive, discriptive words or less often phrases
Qualitative
States are defined through measurements; a numericle value
Quantitative
__________ is a quantitative state where the measure for each state can take on only certain values, such as whole numbers.
Discontinuous
____________ is a quantitative state where the measure for a state can, in theory, take on any (decimal/fractional) value.
continuous
Transformation series between ancestral and derived species can be listed in what three ways
- Unordered character state
- Ordered character state
- Polarized character state
When the character states between species are the same even though they have different numbers they are considered __________
2 premolars<—–3 premolars<——–4 premolars
Transformational Homologs
When there is an equivalence even though numbers dont match it is __________
Taxic Homologs
A species that is ancestral is known as ___________
plesiomorphic
A species that is derived is known as __________
apomorphic
A “summary” data table containing all of the character and character-state information with the former listed along the top and taxa (often but not always species) listed along the (left) side.
Character by Taxon Data Matrix
In a Character by Taxon Data Matrix the ancestral state is always represented by a ______
0
A computer program is used to compare DNA; This shows similarities and differneces between different species DNA
Sequence alignment
When one letter in a DNA sequence is changed it is called ____________
nucleotide substitution
When a one letter in a DNA nucleotide is changed; it changes from a purine to a purine or pyrimidine to a pyrimidine.
transition
When a one letter in a DNA nucleotide is changed; it changes from a purine to a pyrimidine or vica versa.
transversion
The loss or gain of nucleotides
When it is unknown whether there was a loss or gain it is called _________
Insertion/deletion, indel
The non coding part of a gene
intron
the coding part of a gene
extron
Characters in which the derived state is found in only one taxon; used for defining or diagnosing taxon but not used to construct relationships
Autopormorphic
Characters in which there are more than two states
Multistate Character
Characters in which there are only two states
Binary Characters
Taxa, usually species, that a researcher studies. The whole point of a cladistic analysis is to determine the relationship among members
Ingroup Taxa
Taxa used to polarize character states with end result being the root of the tree. (0 Character state)
Outgroup Taxa
shows a nesting of groups
Venn Diagram
An unresolved tree or bush
polytomy
Describe a node and internode in a cladogram
- Node - represents a speciation event
- Internode - area between nodes where changes are labeled for the speciation event
A group of organisms that includes a common ancestor and all of its descendents
monophyletic
A group of organisms that includes some of the descendants of a common ancestor but not all of them
Paraphyletic
A group of organisms that include representatives drawn from two or more different lineages. groups are typically created when analogous structures, resulting from convergent evolution, are misinterpreted as true homologies.
Polyphyletic
derived from a 17th-century philosopher named William of Ockham and has come to be known as “Ockham’s Razor.” What it says is that when we are faced with “competing” explanations for observable phenomena we select the one that makes or requires the fewest assumptions - we prefer the simplest, most succinct or direct scenario because that is the one that has the greatest probability of being correct.
Parsinomy
a character shared by a set of species but not present in their common ancestor
homoplasy
