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Evolution
adaptation over a long period of time
- change in genetic composition of a population
- over populations and generations
Descent with modification
descent from a common ancestor with modification
Aristotle
saw species as fixed and unchanging
- life forms can be arranged on a ladder of increasing complexity
Ladder of Life Forms
more complex at the top, less complex at the bottom
- the're perfect no matter where they fall on the scale
Carolus Linnaeus
Classified organisms based on patterns of creation but thought they were perfect and unchanging
the order that god created them
Erasmus Darwin - who
Charles Darwins grandfather
Erasmus Darwin
published first formal theories of evolution
- zoonomia
James Hutton
Father of modern geology
- studied earth and rocks and how they changed over time
- proposed gradualism
Gradualism
change occurs gradually
- earth underwent continuing transformation over long periods of time
many small changes over a long period of time = large changes
Thomas Malthus
wrote an essay on the principle of population
Principle of Population
- populations cannot grow forever
- populations will always outgrow the food supply
- famine and disease will keep the population in check
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
First to propose a mechanism for how life changes over time
Lamarcks 2 principles
1. use and disuse
2. inheritance of acquired characteristics
Use & Disuse principle (Lamarck)
body parts that are used extensively become larger and stronger, while those that are not used deteriorate
Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics Principle (Lamarck)
an organism could pass these modifications to its offspring
- resurfaced in epigenetics
Epigenetics
modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself
MicroRNA
interferes with messenger RNA
Georges Cuvier
- really strongly influenced Charles Darwin
- largely developed paleontology
- believed in catastrophism
Fossils
- remains or traces of organisms from the past
- found in sedimentary rock
- new layers cover old ones and compress them into layers called strata
catastrophism
Major catastropphic events that wipe out populations
Charles Lyell
- Darwin read his book on his major voyage
- author of principles of geology
- proposed the principle of uniformitarianism
Uniformitarianism
- earths geologic features could be explained by gradual mechanisms
- geological events occur at the same rate now as they have always done
*the earth is going to continue to change and it will be different in the future
Charles Lyell - Nova Scotia
visited Joggins Fossil Cliffs and discovered (with his student) the earliest unquestionable reptile
Charles Darwin
very important in evolutionary thought
- recognized that species changed through time and described how the evolution occurred
- published the origin of species
Darwin - Voyage of HMS Beagle
invited to tour the north american cost line
- gone for 9 years
- visited the galapegos islands
Darwin - Galapagos Islands
- noticed similar species but with different traits on each island
- very similar to those animals in south america but they adapted to the diffrerent environments
*hypothesized that the islands were attached to south america but then broke apart and animals adapted to new conditions and food sources
Adaptive Radiation
might happen if one population is fragmented into several subpopulations isolated in different environments
- one species radiates into many species as the populations adapt over many generations to diffrerent sets of environmental factors
Natural Selection
individuals with inherited traits that are better suited to the local environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than less-well-suited individuals
- unequal reproduction success causes well-suited individuals to pass on their traits and not well siuted individuals die and do not pass on any traits
- increases biological fitness and decreases genetic variation
The Origin of Species - 2 main points
- contemporary species arose from a successsion of ancestors that differed from them "descent with modification"
- natural selection is the primary cause of descent with modification
Alfred Russell Wallace
Pushed Darwin to Publish his work and defended him after it was published
- many people did not support his ideas
Rosemary and Peter Grant
Observed Darwin's finches over 6 decades
Biological Fitness
the ability to survive to reproductive age, find a mate and produce offspring
- survival of the fittest
Three Modes of Natural Selection
1. Directional Selection
2. Disruptive Selection
3. Stabilizing Selection
Directional Selection
Favors one of the extreme variations of a trait
- brush fire turns the environment darker and extreme dark brown mice survive and light and medium ones die
Disruptive Selection
Favors individuals at both extremes of the phenotypic range
- environment with speckled rocks means the dark and light beetles survive but the in between dont survive
Stabilizing Selection
The center of the curve remains in its current position; occurs when individuals near the center of a distribution curve have higher fitness than individuals at either end
- something causes the dark and light mice to die and the in between to survive
Favored Traits
a trait that is favorable in one place or time may be useless or detrimental in another
Carolus Linnaeus
sought to classify life’s diversity “for the greater glory of god'“ organisms similar based on pattern of their creation
god gave them their chraracteristics