Evolution Honors Bio

What is Charles Darwin's book commonly referred to as?

The Origin of Species

What did earlier religious scholars estimate for the age of the Earth?

6,000 years

What did Darwin collect while on the HMS Beagle? What were two of the species he was intrigued by on the Galápagos Islands?

Fossils & living plants; Marine iguanas & giant tortoises

What book was Darwin influenced by? What did it suggest about the age of the Earth?

Principles of Geology; millions of years old

Darwin formulated a hypothesis that present day species are descendants of what?

Ancient ancestors

What is another name for diverse modifications? Today what do we call Darwin's concept of evolution by means of natural selection?

Adaptations & theory

What is evolution?

The process of change with modification

In rock strata, which layers form first?

Lower layers

What evidence did Georges Cuvier's fossils give?

Some organisms in the last differ greatly from current living species

Why was Darwin excited about Lyell's writing?

The had similar ideas

What phrase did Darwin use to describe the process of evolution

Descent with modification

Who formed the new theory of evolution about the same time as Darwin?

Alfred Russel Wallace

What characteristics can related species have?

Underlying similarities yet function differently

What is a similarity resulting from common ancestry call? What are anatomical similarities in different organisms called?

Homology; homologous structures

What to pieces of evidence does molecular biology provide for Darwin's hypothesis that all life forms are related

All forms of life use the same genetic language of DNA & RNA

What do early stages of development in different animal species reveal?

Similarities not visible in adult organsism

What do biologist use to represent patterns of descent?

Evolutionary tree

What can be used to determine the branching sequence of an evolutionary tree?

Homology structures

What are the four main parts to natural selection?

Overproduction, genetic variation, struggle to survive, differential reproduction

What is genetic variation?

Within a population, individuals have different traits

What is differential reproduction?

Organisms with the best adaptations are more likely to survive and reproduce

What phrase did Darwin use to describe natural selection?

Survival of the fittest

Describe a fit individual according to Darwin

One that has offspring that also live long enough to reproduce in a given environment