Understanding Evolution and Population Genetics

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, geological concepts, evolutionary mechanisms, and genetic principles from the lecture notes.

Evolution

The change in genes through time within a biological population.

Fossils

The physical remains of once-living organisms (such as bones, teeth, plants, and animals) created when organic material is replaced by inorganic material.

Species

A group of related organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Habitat

The specific area of the natural environment in which an organism lives.

Natural Selection

The evolutionary process by which organisms adapt to their environment to survive and reproduce, increasing beneficial features in a population over time.

Descent with Modification

Charles Darwin's initial phrasing for evolution, describing how physical adaptations enhance survival and living capabilities across generations.

Endemic

A characteristic or feature of a species that is native or unique to a specific population or environment.

Adaptive Radiation

The evolutionary diversification of an ancestral group into new species adapted to specific environmental niches.

Niche

The structural, temporal, or social context in which a species exists within its ecosystem.

Geology

The scientific study of the Earth, its history, composition, and physical processes.

Geologic Strata

The succession of rock and soil layers, arranged sequentially from the oldest layer at the bottom to the youngest at the top.

Uniformitarianism

The geological doctrine stating that past geological processes operate in the same manner as natural phenomena observed today.

Paleontology

The branch of science concerned with the study of fossil remains to understand prehistoric life forms.

Catastrophism

The doctrine asserting that past geological changes resulted from sudden cataclysmic events (such as floods or earthquakes) rather than gradual evolutionary processes.

Taxonomy

The biological classification of life-forms used to identify and map biological relationships.

Genus

A principal taxonomic category ranking above species and below family, grouping closely related species together.

Demography

The statistical study of populations, focusing on metrics such as birth rates, death rates, and migration dynamics.

Evolutionary Biology

The subfield of biology dedicated to studying organisms and the historical processes of their evolutionary changes.

Lamarckism

The hypothesis proposing that evolutionary change occurs through the inheritance of acquired traits that organisms develop for self-improvement during their lives.

Gemmules

Hypothetical basic units of inheritance proposed by Charles Darwin to reside within reproductive organs.

Blending Inheritance

An obsolete theory stating that offspring phenotypic traits are an even, intermediate mixture of both parents' physical characteristics.

Mendelian Inheritance

The foundational principles governing the transmission of genetic material and discrete traits from parents to offspring.

Alleles

Alternative gene forms located at specific chromosome positions, inherited as one allele from each parent.

Dominant Gene

An allele that is expressed in the physical phenotype even when paired with a different allele.

Recessive Gene

An allele whose physical expression is masked by a dominant gene, requiring two identical copies to appear in the phenotype.

Genotype

The underlying genetic constitution and allele combination of an individual organism.

Phenotype

The observable physical or physiological traits of an organism produced by its genotype.

Chromosomes

Thread-like structures composed of DNA molecules located in the cell nucleus, carrying organized genetic information.

Heterozygous Genotype

A genetic condition where an organism carries two distinct alleles for a given gene (e.g., Tt).

Homozygous Genotype

A genetic condition where an organism carries two identical alleles for a given gene (e.g., TT or tt).

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

A double-stranded helical molecule encoding the genetic instructions for organisms, made of four base pairs: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine.

Genetic Drift

The random, stochastic fluctuation of allele frequencies within a population from one generation to the next.

Gene Flow

The movement and exchange of genetic alleles between separate populations.

Population Genetics

The study of gene frequency dynamics within biological populations and their impacts on adaptation and evolution.

Evolutionary Synthesis

The modern unified evolutionary framework combining Mendelian genetics with Darwinian natural selection.

Mutations

Random alterations in genetic DNA sequences or chromosomal structures that generate novel traits.

Point Mutations

Mutations involving a single incorrect base pair substitution in an allele sequence, such as those causing Sickle Cell Anemia.

Chromosomal Mutations

Mutations involving structural changes or abnormal copy numbers of whole chromosomes.

Trisomy 21

A specific chromosomal mutation resulting in three copies of the 21st chromosome, commonly known as Down Syndrome.

Charles Darwin

The English naturalist who sailed on the HMS Beagle and developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859.

James Hutton

The founder of geology who introduced uniformitarianism and proved the Earth is vastly older than traditional biblical timelines.

Robert Hooke

An early natural philosopher who proved that fossilized wood shared structure with living trees, confirming fossils represent ancient organic matter.

Georges Cuvier

The pioneer of comparative anatomy who established the concept of extinction and advocated for Catastrophism.

Carolus Linnaeus

The Swedish taxonomist (originally Carl von Linné) who created binomial nomenclature ordering life into genus and species.

Thomas Malthus

The demographer whose work showed population growth is constrained by food resources, providing Darwin with the concept of struggle for existence.

Alfred Russel Wallace

The naturalist who independently formulated the theory of natural selection and led research in animal geographic distribution.

Gregor Mendel

The Augustinian monk known as the Father of Modern Genetics who uncovered fundamental inheritance principles using pea plants.

James Watson and Francis Crick

The molecular biologists who elucidated the double-helix structural model of DNA in 1962.