Week 2: Evidence for evolution

Question 1

What were the objections to Darwin’s theories (Neo-Darwinism)?

Answer 1

• Difficulty imagining evolution “by chance”
• Lack of a theory of heredity
• Belief of blending

Question 2

Describe Mendelian genetics.

Answer 2

• Gregor Mendel discovered the law of heredity through experiments with garden peas
• Genes are discrete and are passed on unaltered to the next generation, they do NOT blend

Question 3

What are the evolutionary predictions that prove evolution in nature?

Answer 3

• Life is organised as a hierarchy
• Different structures have a common basis
• Valuable features arise independently but show important differences
• Heritage constrains adaptation

Question 4

What is phylogeny?

Answer 4

The organisation of species into groups based on common features

Question 5

What is homology?

Answer 5

There are very similar structures between organisms that share a common ancestor

Question 6

What are vestiges?

Answer 6

Homologous structures of marginal use/ no longer perform the function for which they originally evolved

Question 7

What are pseudogenes?

Answer 7

Genes that were once functional but aren’t now

Question 8

What is meant by artificial selection?

Answer 8

• Only individuals with a certain trait are allowed to breed
• The average value in the next generation will differ from the previous providing the trait has an additive genetic basis

Question 9

What is meant by experimental evolution?

Answer 9

The use of laboratory or controlled field manipulations to investigate evolutionary processes

Question 10

What does the concept of fitness describe?

Answer 10

• It describes the property that predicts which replicators will be found in the future
• Usually applied to individuals