Unit #1: Evolution Flashcards
Natural Selection, Accumulation of Desirable Traits
What are the emergent properties of a cell?
Life
What is the mechanism for evolution?
Natural selection
Define Darwinian Fitness
Darwinian Fitness is the ability to pass alleles down to progeny, keeping those alleles in the gene pool.
Does evolution act on an individual scale?
No
Microevolution vs Macroevolution
Microevolution refers to changes in allele frequencies in a population, while macroevolution refers to evolution of one species to the next.
What are the 4 conditions that made life possible?
Abiotic synthesis of small molecules, packing these small molecules into macromolecules, packing these molecules into protocells, origin of self replicating molecules.
What is a protocell?
A “pre” cell
What is decent with modification?
Darwin’s concept that different species may come from a common ancestor and adapt to their environments.
What did Darwin observe on his boat ride, and what do his observations imply?
He observed variability and heritability of offspring, as well as overproduction of offspring, implying competition between offspring and that favorable characters amass over time.
Define artificial selection.
Selection where the selective pressure is provided by humans.
Define natural selection.
Selection where the selective pressure is provided by the environment. States that individuals with certain heritable characteristics survive and reproduce at higher rate than others.
What are the 3 types of natural selection?
Directional, stabilizing, disruptive.
Define directional selection
Selection in which one extreme phenotype is selected for.
Define stabilizing selection.
Selection in which the average phenotype is selected.
Define disruptive selection.
Selection in which both extreme phenotypes are selected for.
What is a homologous structure?
A structure in multiple organisms that have similar origins
What is a analogous structure?
A structure adapted for the same function by in organisms living in the same environment, but with different origins.
What type of evolution are analogous structures proof for?
Convergent
What type of evolution are homologous structures proof for?
Divergent
What is a vestigial structure?
A type of homologous structure that in one organism, serves no function anymore, while in another it does.
What is the endosymbiont theory?
The theory that the mitochondria and chloroplasts were originally prokaryotes that got engulfed by an early eukaryote.
What are the proofs for the endosymbiont theory?
Mitochondria and chloroplasts have their own membrane, they both replicate and describe their own DNA, DNA structure is similar to that of prokaryotes, ribosomes are more similar to prokaryotes than other eukaryotes.
