Module 1 Ecology and Evolutionary Bio Vocab

Catastrophism

The idea that sudden catastrophies (floods, rapid mountain building, asteroids) shaped the world

Gradualism

The idea that nature and Earth’s surface are operating now much like they have in the past (changes occur slowly over time)

James Hutton

Found that rock layers are formed from sediment layers using processes that work similarly through all of time

Charles Lyell

Found that modern geological formations are the result of continuous changes as evidenced by processes like glaciation

Carl Linnaeus

Classified and described the diversity of organisms, popularized the use of binomial nomenclature (genus species)

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Believed new forms of life continuously change and develop (used traits are passed down, unused traits are not)

Malthus

Believed there would be too large a population for the amount of food grown

Alfred Russell Wallace

Discovered a sort of boundary between Australian and South Asian animals, part of the foundation of biogeography

Descent with modification

Variation in species occurs from species descending from other species with slight modifications; species are not unchanging

Natural selection

The primary means of modification; the mechanism that brings about change through time

The components of natural selection

1. Individual organisms vary in their traits.

2. Parental traits are inherited by their offspring

3. Resources are limited, so there is differential survival and reproduction

4. Populations (not individuals) adapt to their environment.

VIDA

Vary, Inheritance, Differences in survival + reproduction, Adapt

Fitness

Quantifiable measurement of an organism’s survival and reroduction so that their genes persist; not strength or physical conditions

Adaptation

A characteristic or trait of an organism that makes it well suited to its environment

Evolution

Any changes in the gene frequency within a population’s gene pool, and the development of new organs and structures in a population

Stabilizing selection

Intermediate phenotype is favored

Directional selection

One extreme phenotype is favored

Disruptive selection

Extreme phenotypes are favored over intermediate ones

Homologous structures

Morphological or physiological similarities between different species of organisms

Vestigial structures

Anatomical structures inherited from an ancestor that no longer serve their ancestral function

Artificial selection

When humans intentionally breed and select for specific traits