Evolution Notes

Flashcards covering vocabulary terms related to evolution.

Charles Darwin

English Naturalist and author of “On the Origin of Species”. He was the first to introduce the idea of evolution by means of natural selection.

Naturalism

A belief system that states all organisms and events in the universe have arisen from natural processes

Darwinian Evolution

Decent with modification by means of natural selection

Natural Selection

A mechanism of evolution by which some organisms inherit traits that make them better suited to their environment. This causes the passing on of favorable traits as the organism will be more likely to survive and reproduce.

Classification

The branch of biology that classifies organisms and assigns each organism a universally accepted name.

Carolus Linnaeus classification

System based on structural similarity.

Binomial Nomenclature

The system of assigning a scientific name that consists of two parts.

Phylogeny

The evolutionary history of an organism.

Rules of Binomial Nomenclature (Linnaeus)

The scientific name always consists of two words: the genus and the species.

Phylogeny

The evolutionary history of an organism.

Niche

The specific role an organism holds within its ecosystem

Population

A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time.

Immigration

The movement of individuals into an area.

Emigration

The movement of individuals out of an area.

Exponential growth

Rapid growth where the larger a population becomes, the faster it grows

Polymerization

The connecting of many small monomers to form a large molecule by means of chemical bonds

Carrying capacity

The number of individuals the environment can support over a long period of time.

Logistic Growth

A model of population growth in which growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth.

Genetic variance

The diversity of alleles and phenotypes within a population

Speciation

the splitting of one lineage into two or more linages producing distinct groups of organisms.

Genetic Drift

The random change in the frequency of expression of a particular gene within a population

Gene Flow

The changing of a gene pool of a population through migration

Biogenesis

All living things come from pre-existing living things.

Abiogenesis

Living things could arise from nonliving things.

Protobionts

Droplets with membranes that maintained distinct internal chemistry from their surroundings.

Protobionts

All Protobionts have some life properties (simple reproduction, metabolism, and have an internal chemical environment different from their surroundings.

Paleontology

The scientific study of fossils

derived character

a feature that evolved only within groups under consideration

Ribozyme

An RNA molecule that can act as an enzyme and promote a specific chemical reaction.

Protobionts

Collection of molecules (microspheres) surrounded by a membrane-like structure.

Exponential Growth

When members of a population are reproducing at a constant rate.

Photosynthetic Cells

Cells that can manufacture their own organic compounds.

Analogous Structures

Are similar in function but not in structure.

Vestigial Structures

a structure that is reduced in size and/or function that seems to be "left over" from a previous ancestor