Interactive Video: Development of Darwin's Theory, Interactivity: Origins of Evolutionary Theories, eText: Ideas That Influenced Darwin, Interactive Video: The Galapagos Island, Group Quiz: A Voyage Of Discovery, Quiz: Ideas That Influenced Darwin

What best describes the role of Lamarck's ideas in the development of Darwin's theory of evolution?

Lamarck's proposed model of evolution was not correct, but it helped Darwin develop his own model.

Who first proposed that the Earth was very old?

James Hutton

What did Lamarck propose?

Lamarck thought that organisms could change their shape by using or not using certain parts of their bodies during their lifetimes.

What did Malthus propose?

 Malthus observed that the birthrate among humans exceeded the death rate. If this trend continued, soon there would not be enough resources to support human population growth. He reasoned that the only things capable of stopping human population growth were famine, disease, and war.

How did Charles Darwin build on the work of Thomas Malthus to develop the idea of evolution by natural selection?

This helps Charles Darwin develop the idea of evolution by natural selection because he realized that only the strongest offspring continue to live due to resources and those are the traits that get passed down and evolve.

Which of the following scientists influenced Darwin as he developed his ideas about evolution?

Lyell and Malthus

artificial selection

selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring.

How did Darwin collect data while on the Beagle?

He collected specimens, He observed plants and animals, He recorded detailed information about the plants and animals he saw.

In Darwin's time, biologists were arguing that life changed in a process of _____. Some of the evidence for changing life came from ______ , the preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms.

Evolution, fossils

Other biologists of Darwin's time had proposed that living things had changed over time. Which feature distinguished Darwin's theory of evolution from the proposals of the other biologists?

an explanation of how evolution occurs

On Darwin's voyage, he observed ostriches and rheas living on grasslands on separate continents. These two types of birds are similar, but not identical. How did Darwin apply these observations?

He developed hypotheses to explain the distribution and differences of the birds.

Darwin observed a variety of tortoises on the Galapagos Islands. These observations provided evidence for which of these statements?

Species vary locally.

The diagram compares the sizes of the armadillo, a modern animal, and the glyptodont, an ancient animal that resembled an enlarged armadillo. Which of the following statements is MOST STRONGLY supported by the evidence shown in the diagram?

Ancient animals resembled modern animals in some ways, but differed in other ways.

Match each example of Darwin's observations to the statement for which it provides evidence.

Rabbits live in grasslands in Europe, but not in South America and Australia.

Species vary globally

Match each example of Darwin's observations to the statement for which it provides evidence.

Brown birds with a variety of beak shapes live on the Galapagos Islands.

Species vary locally

Match each example of Darwin's observations to the statement for which it provides evidence.

As shown by fossils, many ancient organisms resembled modern organisms, but were not identical to them.

Species vary over time

Which are examples of artificial selection? Select all of the answers that apply.

• A.

  Female cardinals are attracted to the bright red feathers of male cardinals.

• B.

  A dog breeder mates a friendly, well-trained male dog with a similar female dog.

• C.

  A pet cat escapes into the neighborhood and mates with a stray cat.

• D.

  A farmer observes that predators tend to kill the slowest chickens in the flock.

• E.

  A farmer selects a mating pair of the largest ewe and largest ram in the flock.

B, E

Rocks form in horizontal layers. However, as shown along mountainsides, rock layers can become twisted or bent. The work of James Hutton and Charles Lyell helped to explain observations of twisted or bent rock layers. What was one of their conclusions?

Earth is extremely old, and Earth processes acted gradually to twist or bend rocks.

An elephant has a long, powerful trunk. According to the ideas of Lamarck, how did the trait of long, powerful trunks develop in elephants?

Gradually, as generations of elephants continued to selectively use and develop their trunks

A pigeon breeder wants to apply artificial selection to develop pigeons with a specific body shape and feather pattern. For the breeder to be successful, what property must exist among the breeding stock of pigeons?

sufficient inheritable variations