unit 10

evolution

James Hutton

principle of uniformitarianism

principle of uniformitarianism

that the geological forces have shaped the earth, not the hand of God

Nicolaus Steno

principle of superposition

principle of superposition

lower layers of rock are older than top layers due to other substances forming on top of them like lava

carolus linnaeus

came up with the scientific classification system

Georges Cuvier

principle of catastrophism

principle of catastrophism

sudden geographical catastrophes occur and cause mass extinctions

what did Cuvier contribute

the idea that species can go extinct and that the earth has changed

Thomas Malthus

essay on principles of population

war, disease, and famine

forces that work against an increasing population

Jean Baptiste Lamarck

inheritance of acquired traits

inheritance of acquired traits

an organism can change its body plan and can pass these acquired traits to their offspring

Charles Lyell

principles of geology

principles of geology

One must explain past events in processes they can observe now, such as volcanoes and erosion.

evolution

species change over time

macroevolution

process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms

microevolution

heritable changes in characteristics in a population from one generation to the next

theory

a well tested explanation that unifies a broad range of disciplines and observations

why is evolution theory important

gives insight to medicine, agriculture, environmentalism, and to answer to the question “where do we come from?”

beliefs of the church during this time

1: the earth and all its forms was created 4,000-6,000 years ago

2: the forms of life have not changed since God created them

3: man is separate from and above the Animal Kingdom

Malthus’ essay on population led to two questions…

what causes individuals to live or die in different species?

what factor or factors improved the chances of whether certain individuals survive and reproduce?

what Darwin noticed after his trip

biological diversity, geological forces, discovered fossils, artificial selection

biological diversity

species vary globally, locally, and over time

globally (bio. diver.)

certain continents, islands, areas have different features to their respective species; similar habitats have shaped them to become similar; convergent evolution/analogous structures

locally

among individuals of a species there are differences, or “natural variation”

time

found fossils from species that look nothing like we have today; helped him realize that animals can go extinct

natural selection

nature can select which individuals of a species will survive in an environment and reproduce, passing on those traits that enabled it to survive

artificial selection

when people breed plants and animals according to the traits that they find desirable

Alfred Russel Wallace

came up with the same idea that Darwin had about natural selection and sent him a manuscript about it; created the Wallace line

Wallace line

deep sea trench between Asia and Australia, different organisms on either side of the line

south of the Wallace line

marsupial type mammals, Australian

north of the Wallace line

oriental type species, placental mammals

the descent of man

(Darwin) states that man came from an ape-like ancestor

adaptations

these inherited characteristics, can increase an organisms chance of survival

survival of the fittest

the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its specific environment

three big ideas in biogeography

1: closely related species (and sub-species) are slightly different when found in different environments

2: a species’ closest relative is (generally) found nearby and not a far away place with a similar habitat

3:species from different lineages can develop similarities when found in similar habitats

divergent evolution

similar structures because of common ancestry

convergent evolution

similar structure because of a similar environment

comparative embryology

looking at the similarities and differences during the development from zygote to fetus to birth

genes

control the development of the embryo

ernst haeckel

his pictures of early development tend to make embryos seem more similar than they should

comparative morphology/anatomy

similarities and differences of body plans in different species

more closely related means..

more similarity

vestigial structures

structures that no longer serve a purpose, or have a reduced function from the original function, in a species (tail bone, appendix, muscles that move our ears)

molecular biology

comparing nucleotide sequences for genes and amino acid sequences for proteins, based on mutation rates

the more similar the gene or protein between two species means…

the more recent the common ancestor

a more different sequence means…

a more distant ancestor

what was the first protein to be compared between species

cytochrome C

evidence that suggests that two chromosomes fused together (chromosome #2)

1: similar banding patterns

2:ghost centromere in humans

3: ghost telomeres in humans

Denton’s big mistake

compared all of the species at the point where they all shared a common ancestor, causing them to all have roughly the same amount of differences

The Modern Synthesis

the blending of our understanding of genetics and evolution