USC Bisc 120 Midterm #2
Phylogenetics - Answer- The science behind figuring out relationships between organisms
Phylogeny - Answer- The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species
Systematics - Answer- The science of classifying organisms based on their characteristics
...
Shared Derived Character - Answer- distinguishes from related ancestral species
Parsimony (Occam's Razor) - Answer- a scientific preference to explain data with the
simplest possible explanation (phylogenetic tree with the fewest steps assumed to
be right)
Maximum Parsimony - Answer- the best tree requires the fewest changes
, Maximum Likelihood - Answer- method for finding best cladogram (ideally checks all
possible trees)
Bayesian Inference - Answer- method for finding best cladogram (based on Bayes'
theorem)
Gradualism - Answer- The theory that evolution occurs slowly but steadily (Darwin
and Mayr)
Punctuated Equilibria - Answer- The theory that species evolve during short periods
of rapid change (Gould and Eldredge)
Biogeography - Answer- Study of past distribution of organisms
Adaptive Radiation - Answer- The diversification of a group of organisms that fill
different ecological niches.
Molecular Clock - Answer- A model that uses DNA comparisons to estimate the
length of time that two species have been evolving independently (genome
mutations accumulate at a steady rate) (uses fossils)
Early Earth (Hadean) - Answer- volcanism, meteors, little oxygen, lightning, and UV
light (water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen) (4.5-4 billion years ago)
Primitive Soup - Answer- refers to organic molecules that were in the ocean from
which life arose (lightning and UV light may have provided energy for spontaneous
production of organic molecules)
Miller and Urey - Answer- The early atmosphere (reducing) could have produced
amino acids and other organic compounds
Neutral Atmosphere - Answer- could have provided RNA monomers and fatty acids
Chromatography - Answer- showed that simple compounds had now turned into
larger organic monomers (amino acids)
Alkaline Deep Sea Vents - Answer- provided energy (heat and pH gradient) to create
organic molecules in pores and vents
Volcanic Clays - Answer- volcanic clays + energy can induce polymerization of
macromolecules (RNA)
Vesicles (packaging of molecules into "protocells") - Answer- could have formed
spontaneously (fatty acids, lipids)
Water + Clay Environment - Answer- vesicles and RNA polymerization happen more
readily on clay surface
Ribozymes - Answer- RNA molecules that can catalyze reactions and self-replicate
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