Term
| Who were the prominent scientists who contributed to early evolutionary theory? |
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Definition
1. Carl Linnaeus: Systema Naturae
2. Charles Lyell: many small changes
3. Georges Cuvier: extinction
4. James Hutton: Earth formed slowly
5. Lamarck: heritability |
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Term
| What led Darwin to his theory of natural selection? |
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Definition
| Finches from the Galapogos. All were remarkably well-suited to their habitats because they had been continually changing. |
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Term
| What is natural selection? |
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Definition
| If an individual has some trait that helps it to thrive in its environment, it may leave more offspring than other individuals. Its traits would propagate across the species. |
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Term
| How does artificial selection differ from natural selection? |
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Definition
| Artificial selection is directed, out of desire for a certain result. Natural selection has no result in mind and is not directed. |
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Term
| How does natural selection produce adaptations? |
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Definition
| Adaptations begin randomly as mutations. If a mutation is beneficial to an individual's fitness, that mutation is propagated through the species via the individual's offspring--i.e. is naturally selected. |
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Term
| Why is heritability a prerequisite for evolution? |
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Definition
| If traits weren't heritable, there would BE no evolution. Evolution is a system in which traits, both beneficial and detrimental, are passed to one's offspring. |
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Term
| Why is genetic diversity needed in order for evolution to occur? |
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Definition
| With more variation, it is more likely that some individuals in a population will possess variations of alleles that are suited for the environment. Those individuals are more likely to survive to produce offspring bearing that allele. |
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Term
| What is the role of mutation in evolutionary processes? |
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Definition
| Adaptations are derived from mutations. That being said, not all mutations are beneficial and sometimes help to rule certain individuals out of the gene pool. |
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Term
| What is genetic drift and how does it cause evolutionary change? |
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Definition
| Genetic drift is the change in the frequency of an allele in a population due to random sampling. Genetic drift may cause gene alleles to disappear completely, and thereby reduce genetic variation. Less genetic variation means less of a chance for adaptation. |
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Term
| Why do organisms reproduce sexually? |
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Definition
| more DIVERSITY, FASTER EVOLUTION, better IMMUNE SYSTEM |
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Term
| How is sexual selection different from other forms of natural selection? |
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Definition
| Sexual selection deals solely with what members of a specific sex are more fit to reproduce. |
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Term
| What roles do conflict and cooperation play in reproduction? |
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Definition
| Ducks! Ducks have Red Queen type evolving genitalia. |
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