Ch.12L.1 Descent with Modification (Evolution) - General Biology II

Vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, concepts, and terms related to Darwinian evolution and early evolutionary theory.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Proposed that evolution occurs through the inheritance of acquired characteristics and use/disuse, leading to gradual adaptation of organisms.

Charles Lyell

Geologist who popularized uniformitarianism and argued that Earth is shaped by gradual processes over long time scales.

• Constant by sediment layers, earthquakes, & formation of canyons

• Earth is older than 6,000 years old

Thomas Malthus

Economist who noted that resources are limited and populations tend to grow faster than supplies, leading to competition and survival pressure.

HMS Beagle

The ship on which Darwin traveled to observe and collect specimens around the world.

• observed various traits of related species & similaritiesto support his theory of natural selection.

Darwin

Naturalist who proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution and authored The Origin of Species (1859).

Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, who also studied the change of life

• Manuscripts presented at Linnaean Society in 1858

• Studied organisms in the Malay Archipelago

• Sent a letter to Darwin to explain his ideas

The Origin of Species

Darwin's 1859 book proposing evolution by natural selection and transforming views on life on Earth.

Natural selection

Process by which heritable traits that confer a survival or reproductive advantage become more common in a population over generations.

Modern Synthesis

Integration of genetics with Darwinian evolution, explaining how mutations create heritable variation that drives evolution.

Genetic mutation

A change in DNA that creates new alleles and contributes to heritable variation used by natural selection.

Evolution

Change in the traits of a population over time due to differential survival and reproduction.

• Populations can only evolve

George Buffon

An early naturalist who proposed ideas about species changing over time and related species having a common ancestor

George Cuvier

A prominent paleontologist who studied fossils and established the theory of catastrophism, suggesting that species could become extinct due to sudden geological events.

• Principle of Superposition: Dating fossils based on rock layers

Tree of Life

A metaphor describing the evolutionary relationships among various species, illustrating how all life forms are interconnected through common ancestry.