Biology Evolution Test Review

Species

A group of organisms so similar to one another that they can reproduce and have fertile offspring.

Evolution

The process of biological chance by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors.

Natural Selection

A mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptions produce more offspring on average than do other individuals

Artificial Selection

The process by which humans change a species by breeding it for certain traits. Humans make use of the genetic variation in plants and animals by acting as the selective agent.

Adaption

A feature that allows an organism to better survive in its environment.

Fitness

A measure of the ability to survive and produce more offspring relative to other members of the population in a given environment.

Homologous Structure

Features that are similar in structure but appear in different organisms and have different functions.

Analogous Structure

Structures that perform a similar functions but are not similar in origin.

Vestigial Structure

Remnants of organs or structures that had a function in an early ancestor.

Variation

The difference in the physical traits of an individual from those of other individuals in the group to which it belongs.

Gene Pool

The combined alleles of all of the individuals in a population.

Bottleneck Effect

Genetic drift that occurs after an event greatly reduces the size of a population.

Founder Effect

Genetic drift that occurs after a small number of individuals colonize a new area.

Reproductive Isolation

Occurs when members of a different population can no longer mate successfully.

Behavioral Isolation

Isolation caused by differences in courtship or mating behaviors.

Convergent Evolution

Evolution toward similar characteristics in unrelated species.

Divergent Evolution

When closely related species evolve in different directions.

Gene Flow

The movement of alleles from one population to another.

Microevolution

The observable change in the allele frequencies of a population over time.

Allele Frequency

A measure of how common a certain allele is in a population.

Where did Darwin do his research for his theory of natural selection?

Traveling on the HMS Beagle, mostly researching in the Galapagos.

Is evolution a fast or slow process?

Slow because it occurs over generations.

What is the process by which evolution occurs?

Natural selection.

Give an example of a homologous structure:

Arms between humans and animals.

Give an example of a an analogous structure:

The wings of birds, insects, and bats.

Give three examples of Vestigial structures:

Appendix, wisdom teeth, male nipples.

Why is the appendix a vestigial structure?

It breaks down sticks and we don’t eat sticks anymore.

Why are wisdom teeth vestigial structures?

It helped tear up hard meat and we no longer eat things like that.

Why are male nipples vestigial structures?

They’re used to lactate and only females need to lactate to supply their children with nutrition.

What is an example of natural selection?

A predator eating one type of species over another and that species dies out, therefore creating more of the species that survives better.

What is an example of artificial selection?

Humans cutting down forests and leave many species to seek refuge and potentially adapt differently.

WHat are three examples of the evidence of evolution?

Fossil record, embryology, homologous structures.

Why are fossil records evidence of evolution?

A time machine that shows previous species of our world and see how we evolved from them.

Why is embryology evidence of evolution?

Shows us similarities in species at conception.

Why are homologous structures evidence of evolution?

Shows us similarities in our bodies and other species’ bodies.

Why must there be variation in a population in order for natural selection to occur?

If there is no variation in a population, then when organisms die off due to a reason related to their genetics nothing will change and eventually the species will die out because there was no variation to help them survive.

What are the three patterns of natural selection?

Directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection.

What are the 5 factors that can cause the frequency of alleles in a population to change?

Mutation, genetic drift, gene Flow, non-random mating, natural selection.

What are the five Hardy-Weinberg Evolution conditions?

Large population, no migration, no mutation, random mating, no natural selection.

What is the Hardy-Weinberg Equation?

p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1

What does p represent?

Represents the frequency of the dominant allele.

What does q represent?

Represents the frequency of the recessive allele.

What does 2pq represent?

The heterozygous alleles.

What does p squared represent?

The homozygous dominant alleles.

What does q squared represent?

The homozygous recessive alleles.

What does normal hemoglobin alleles mean?

All the dominant alleles.

What does being completely normal for hemoglobin mean?

Fully dominant alleles.

What do you do when solving for Hardy-Weinberg?

ALWAYS START WITH RECESSIVE