Darwin and Evolution – Chapter 14

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms and concepts from the Chapter 14 lecture on Darwin’s theory of evolution and supporting evidence.

Charles Darwin

English naturalist whose observations aboard the HMS Beagle led him to propose natural selection as the mechanism for evolution.

HMS Beagle

British survey ship on which Darwin served as naturalist during a five-year voyage around the world (1831-1836).

Evolution

The process by which species arise, change, and diversify over time.

Georges Cuvier

Father of paleontology who argued that past catastrophes caused extinctions observable in the fossil record.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Biologist who proposed the (incorrect) idea of inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

Lamarck’s hypothesis that traits gained during an organism’s lifetime can be passed to offspring.

Common Descent

Concept that all organisms share a common ancestor.

Biogeography

Study of the geographic distribution of living organisms.

Convergent Evolution

Independent evolution of similar traits in distantly related species living in similar environments.

Strata

Layers of sedimentary rock that preserve fossils in chronological order.

Endemic Organisms

Species found naturally in only one geographic location (e.g., Galápagos marine iguana).

Adaptation

Any heritable trait that increases an organism’s fitness in its environment.

Natural Selection

Mechanism of evolution whereby heritable variations that improve survival and reproduction become more common in a population.

Variation

Genetic and phenotypic differences among individuals of a population, essential for natural selection.

Struggle for Existence

Competition for limited resources that results when populations produce more offspring than the environment can support.

Fitness

Reproductive success of an individual relative to other members of its population.

Fossil Record

Ordered array of fossils within rock strata documenting the succession of life from simple to complex forms.

Vestigial Structures

Reduced or nonfunctional anatomical features inherited from functional structures in ancestors (e.g., wings of flightless birds).

Homologous Structures

Anatomically similar body parts in different species inherited from a common ancestor.

Molecular Evidence

Evolutionary relationships inferred from similarities in DNA, RNA, ATP, and proteins among organisms.

Galápagos Islands

Volcanic archipelago whose unique flora and fauna helped Darwin formulate his ideas on evolution.

Galápagos Finches

Group of finch species with diverse beak shapes illustrating adaptive divergence from a common ancestor.

Galápagos Tortoises

Island-specific tortoise species whose neck lengths correlate with local food sources.

Thomas Malthus

Economist who argued that populations grow faster than resources, influencing Darwin’s concept of natural selection.

Catastrophism

Cuvier’s idea that sudden, widespread events caused mass extinctions and shaped Earth’s biological history.

Paleontology

Scientific study of fossils and ancient life forms.