Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life

Flashcards covering key figures, concepts of descent with modification, natural selection, adaptations, and evolutionary evidence.

Who was the father of paleontology and the first scientist to accept the concept of extinction?

Georges Cuvier

Which classification system and naming convention did Carolus Linnaeus develop?

The binomial naming system and a nested classification system

What mechanism for evolution was proposed by Jean Baptiste Lamarck?

He proposed that organisms have an innate tendency towards increasing complexity (perfection) and pass on acquired characteristics.

What was the primary purpose of the HMS Beagle's voyage from 1831 to 1836?

To chart South American coastlines

According to the antibiotic discovery timeline, how many years had passed since a new class of antibiotics was last introduced?

30 years

What is an adaptation in evolutionary biology?

An inherited characteristic of an organism that enhances its survival and reproduction in its specific environment.

How do Galápagos finch beak shapes reflect adaptation?

Beak shapes are specialized and adapted to fit different diets, such as cactus-eating, insect-eating, and seed-eating.

Who independently developed a hypothesis of natural selection while working in the South Pacific in 1858?

Alfred Wallace

In what year was Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species published?

1859

Which extant groups are most closely related to living elephants according to fossil and anatomical evidence?

Hyraxes (Hyracoidea) and sirenians (Sirenia, including manatees and relatives)

Where were hidden dinosaur tracks exposed due to severe drought conditions drying up the Paluxy River?

Dinosaur Valley State Park

What is the smallest biological unit capable of evolving?

A population

Why can acquired characteristics gained during an individual's lifetime not cause evolutionary changes in a population?

Because acquired traits are non-heritable life experiences and cannot be passed on through genetic inheritance.

In what year was penicillin widely utilized, and by what year were many strains of Staphylococcus aureus already resistant to it?

Penicillin was widely utilized in 1943, and resistant strains were identified by 1945.

What change in beak length was observed in soapberry bugs (Jadera haematoloma) after shifting to introduced goldenrain tree seeds in central Florida?

Their average beak length decreased compared to those feeding on native balloon vine fruit.

What are homologous structures?

Anatomical features in different species that share structural similarity because they were inherited from a common ancestor.

What is convergent evolution?

The independent evolution of similar (analogous) features in distantly related lineages as an adaptation to similar environments.

Which fossil lineages document the transition of cetaceans from land to sea?

Pakicetus, Rodhocetus, and Dorudon

What term describes species that are found exclusively in one specific geographic area and nowhere else in the world?

Endemic species

What was the single supercontinent named that existed prior to continental drift?

Pangaea

What animal is an eastern coyote?

A hybrid of the coyote and the wolf (also known as a coywolf).