Biological evolution - ANSWERSAny change in the inherited traits of a population that occurs from one generation to the next (i.e., over a time period longer than the lifetime of an individual in the population)
Change has to be passed down
Encoded in genes
Natural Selection - ANSWERSMechanism...
Evolution Exam 1 Study Guide
Questions & Answers
Biological evolution - ANSWERSAny change in the inherited traits of a population that
occurs from one generation to the next (i.e., over a time period longer than the lifetime
of an individual in the population)
Change has to be passed down
Encoded in genes
Natural Selection - ANSWERSMechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby
differential survival and reproduction of individuals cause some genetic types to out-
compete others
NOT survival of the fittest ( only true if fittest means producing more offspring)
Started by random mutation which is helpful in the habitat
Passing these genes on is the MOST important thing
Descent with modification - ANSWERS1. Earth and life are OLD
2. New life-forms derive from older forms = macroevolution
3. All life-forms are related = Shared Ancestry
4. Lineages split and diverge = speciation
5. Species change over time = microevolution
Marie Curie - ANSWERSDiscovered radioactive isotope decay
Instrumental in development of radiometric dating (carbon dating)
Synapomorphies - ANSWERSA derived form of a trait that is shared by a group of
related species (i.e. one that evolved in the immediate common ancestor of the group
and was inherited by all of its descendants)
Convergent evolution - ANSWERSthe independent origin of similar traits in separate
evolutionary lineages
Similar environments lead to similar adaptations in unrelated species
E.x. Both birds and bats evolved to fly but aren't closely related
Shared Ancestry - ANSWERSWhen two species share a common ancestor
All life can be traced back to one ancestor
The more two species share an ancestry, the closer related they are
Artificial selection - ANSWERSEvidence of microevolution (species change over time)
When humans select for certain traits in a population, breeding animals so that those
traits become more common or exaggerated
Zoonosis - ANSWERSThe process of infectious disease transmission between species
, When a disease jumps from an animal to a human
Viral reassortment - ANSWERSOccurs when genetic material from different strains gets
mixed into new combinations within a single individual
Several strains of a virus come together, become more potent, can then attack humans
Charles Darwin - ANSWERSEnglish naturalist
Trained at medical school
Traveled on the HMS beagle in 1931
Collected many fossils, living organisms
Studied geology
Developed the theory of evolution (descent with modification)
Published "On the Origin of Species"
Influenced by many who came before him
Believed in common ancestry, natural selection
Nicolas Steno - ANSWERSFather of geology and stratigraphy (study of layering in rock)
Believed "tongue stones" were actually fossilized shark teeth
Two critical ideas
1. Life and earth had a history of change
2. Earth itself kept a record of that history
Didn't believe in evolution
Catholic Bishop
Carl Linnaeus - ANSWERSFather of modern taxonomy
Classified animals into a system and hierarchy
Organized life into species, genus, phylum, etc
Believed God had created life's diversity in the beginning (i.e. all species have been
present from the beginning of creation)
Taxon - ANSWERSRefers to groups of organisms that a taxonomist judges to be
cohesive units, such as a species or order
Group of organisms put together as a unit (phylum, etc)
Taxonomy - ANSWERSThe science of describing, naming, and classifying species of
living or fossil organisms
Georges Buffon - ANSWERSProposed that the earth formed according to laws of
physics and chemistry and from debris of the Sun
Believed earth to be old (70,000 years)
Proposed that life started from organic particles in the ocean
Believed life had distinct types when it first emerged, BUT also thought populations
could change over time
Argued life had changed over time
Paleontology - ANSWERSThe study of prehistoric life
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