History of Evolutionary Thought and Principles

Vocabulary flashcards covering early concepts of nature, historical figures in evolutionary biology, theories of Earth's history, and mechanisms of evolution.

Scala Naturae

Also known as the 'Scale of Nature'; a staircase of complexity created by Aristotle.

Species Fixity

The belief, associated with Aristotle, that all species came from gods.

Natural Theology

Taking things from nature and giving them a reason to have been created.

Fossils

Remanents of past life that came way before humans; typically found in sedimentary rock (layers that show Earth's age).

Taxonomy

The meaning and naming of organisms; created by Carolus Linnaeus.

Theory of Gradualism

Proposed by James Hutton; the concept that changes that happen are slow and occur over time rather than suddenly.

Paleontology

The study of past lives; created by George Cuvier.

Theory of Uniformitarianism

Proposed by Charles Lyell; the idea that things we see today have also been seen in the past.

Jean Baptiste Lamarck

The first person to put his idea of species changing over time into the public; proposed that inheritance of acquired traits was how species changed.

Inheritance of Acquired Traits

The mechanism by which Jean Baptiste Lamarck thought species changed over time.

Speciation

The formation of a species through changing, adapting, and evolving.

Charles Darwin

Scientist who stated that evolution occurs at the level of population and posted a book on his research in 1859.

Artificial Selection

The process where humans take natural variation and manipulate it to our desires based on traits.

Natural Selection

The process where nature selects based on traits that are best fit for the environment, allowing the species to persist.

Aspects of Natural Selection

Variation, Heritability, Competition, Differential Fitness

Homology / Homologous Traits

Traits shared by different species through ancestry

5 Sub Theories

1. Perpetual Change

2. Gradualism

3. Common Descent

4. Speciation

5. Natural Selection

Differential Fitness

The variation in survival and reproduction among individuals within a population

Adaptation

The process of evolutionary modification that results in improved survival and reproduction

Evolution occurs at what level?

Population

Natural selection acts upon?

Individuals

Genes

Discrete units of inheritance

Genotype

Genetic makeup of an organism

Phenotype

Physical of physiological manifestation of the genotype

Alleles

Variants of the same gene

Population

Smallest unit of evolution

Modern Synthesis

Recognizes there is a genetic component in traits

Allele Types

Dominant and recessive

Sources of Genetic Variation

1. Mutations - original source of variation

2. Recombinations - sexual reproduction

Micro evolution

Changes the genetic variation of a population over time

Polymorphism

A character within a population represented in 2+ forms

Genetic Variation

Occurs in separate groups of the same species living in geographic regions

Population Genetics

Studying genetic variation within populations and the process acting on them

Allele Frequencies

Proportion of a populations gene pool of specific alleles