LMU Entrance Exam (Evolutionary Bio, Ecology, and Systematics)

LMU Entrance Exam (Evolutionary Bio, Ecology, and Systematics) Fecundity maximum reproductive output Semelparity : all offspring produced in single event (favored in stable and predictable environments) Iteroparity offspring produced in many events throughout life (favored by unstable environments) Grazers attack a large number of prey but cause little damage on the individual level (mosquitos leeches, flies are grazers) Parasites symbiotic relationship where hosts fitness decreased while parasites is increased Functional response Intake rate of a consumer as a function of food density Types of functional responses Type 1: (/) Linear: As food supply increases, amount of food consumed increases Type 2: Levels off: as food supply increases, food consumed increases but is limited by the amount it can consume. So it levels off. Type 3: At low prey density, the amount of food consumed is low. But as prey density increases, so does food consumption. However, it still caps. Dispersion Clumped: individuals in discrete groups (clumped distribution of resources, social predisposition) -Evenly spaced: each indv maintains a minimum distance from one another (competition) -Random: dispersed independently in a homogenous area Rabinowitz Commonness and rarity: Dependent upon geographic range, habitat tolerance, local pop size Rarity 3: Restricted range, restricted tolerance, small pop size -Rarity 2: Narrow habitat tolerance -Rarity 1: Small local populations Pop Growth Geometric growth: 1 generation per year -Exponential growth -Maximum substantial yield (MSY Model) Species concepts: Biological Species Concept: Species = Interbreeding population that is reproductively isolated Morphological: How similar they look Phylogeny: How related they are to another species Nomenclature naming species. Binomial nomenclature Tree thinking Distance: amount of change between twigs. How similar are the species? Ancestral traits: unchanged traits from ancestor Derived traits: new traits from ancestor Synapomorphies: shared derived traits Monophyletic: Includes everything Paraphyletic: Does not include all descendants of ancestor Polyphyletic: does not include all descendants of ancestor nor all ancestors Cladistics categorizing organisms based on shared traits Classification concepts Plesiomorphy: shared ANCESTRAL traits Symplesiomorphy: Shared ANCESTRAL traits but not linked through a common ancestor Apomorphy: Shared DERIVED traits of one species or group, Synapomorphy refers to entire clades that have shared derived traits Genome Genetic material of an organism Structure of genomes Linear order of DNA elements and their division into chromosomes. Also the 3D structure of chromosomes and positioning of DNA sequences within the nucleus. Typical size of mammalian genome 3.5 billion base pairs of DNA How many protein coding genes are in the mammalian genome? 30,000 protein coding genes in a typical mammalian genome Transcriptome full range of messenger RNA or mRNA molecules expressed by an organism. Can be used to describe the array of mRNA transcripts produced in a particular cell or tissue type. Mendel's Law of Segregation Lets us predict how a single feature associated with a single gene is inherited. When an organism produces a gamete, each gamete receives just one gene copy at random. Punnett square helps us predict the genotypes and phenotypes of an offspring from genetic crosses Independent assortment states the alleles of two different genes get sorted in a gamete independently from one another (unless it is linked). Mendelian trait trait controlled by one locus. The simplest trait Allele one of the possible forms of a gene. If heterozygous, there