Vocabulary Flashcards for Exam Review

Flashcards for reviewing lecture notes on Evolution and Diversity of Life.

Temporal Fenestra

A distinct opening in the skull behind each eye, present in synapsids.

Sweat Glands

Key feature of mammals used for evaporative cooling.

Mammary Glands

Key feature of mammals that secrete nutritious fluid for feeding young.

Hair

Key feature of mammals that provides protective, insulating cover.

Ear Bones (Malleus, Incus, Stapes)

Key feature of mammals; several evolved from jaw joint elements in synapsid ancestors.

Placenta

Complex organ in eutherian mammals that facilitates embryonic development in the uterus.

Marsupium

Maternal pouch in marsupials where young are brooded.

Monotremes

Egg-laying mammals (e.g., platypus and echidnas).

Marsupials

Mammals whose young are born early and brooded in a marsupium (e.g., kangaroos, koalas).

Eutherians

Mammals with complex placentas; young develop mostly in the uterus (placental mammals).

Primates

Eutherians characterized by limbs with grasping hands and feet, and a flat face with forward-facing eyes.

Hominins

The chimp/bonobo lineage diverged ~7 mya. Key trait: bipedal locomotion. All are extinct except Homo sapiens.

Bipedal Locomotion

A key trait evolved in the common ancestor of hominins.

Homo habilis

The earliest species of the genus Homo, known for tool use.

Homo neanderthalensis

Sister taxa to Homo sapiens that diverged ~400,000 years ago extinct ~28,000 years ago.

Homo sapiens

Evolved in Africa ~195,000 years ago, migrated out of Africa ~115,000 years ago, made sophisticated tools and art.

Kudzu

Plant from Asia that has taken over certain regions of the South in the USA.

Scientific Method

Observe, generate hypotheses, make predictions, test predictions.

Alternation of Generations

Life cycle in plants and algae involving distinct multicellular haploid (gametophyte) and diploid (sporophyte) phases. The gametophyte produces gametes by mitosis that fuse to form a diploid zygote, which develops into the sporophyte. The sporophyte produces spores by meiosis, which germinate into gametophytes, continuing the cycle.

Diplontic

A key life cycle where the diploid stage is dominant and multicellular, and the haploid stage is single-celled (e.g., animals).

Haplontic

A life cycle in which the main form of the organism is haploid, with the diploid stage being only a brief zygote formed during sexual reproduction. Meiosis occurs immediately after fertilization, restoring the haploid state.

Natural selection

The process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce more than those less adapted.

Mutation

A change in the DNA sequence of an organism.

Gene flow

The transfer of genetic variation from one population to another.

Genetic drift

The change in the frequency of an existing gene variant in a population due to random chance.

Sexual selection

A mode of natural selection where members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with (intersexual selection) and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex (intrasexual selection).