Evolution Exam 1

Evolution-

change in the characteristics of organisms over the course of generations

Applications of evolution-

Health Sciences, agriculture, natural products, conservation & environmental management, understanding ourselves, and entertainment

Evidence of microevolution-

selective breeding, direct observation, vestigial structures

Selective breeding examples-

specific traits in dogs for companionship, aesthetics

Vestigial structues-

previously evolutionarily beneficial in ancestors, no longer useful in the current generation, but still retained

vestigial structures examples-

goosebumps

evidence of speciation-

lab experiments and natural populationsev

evidence of macroevolution

extinction & succession, and transitional forms

transitional forms-

exhibit traits typical of ancestral populations and novel traits seen later in descendants

evidence of common ancestry-

homology

Homology-

fundamental similarities that underlie the obvious physical differences among species

homology example-

vertebrate forelimbs used for different functions have the same sequence and arrangement of bones

fundamental principles of evolutionary biology

1. All life is subject to physical/chemical processes

2. All life contains self-encoding information (DNA/RNA)

3. All life has evolved