Topic 1: Darwinism

Linnaeus

Father of Taxonomy

Lamark

created the first evolution theory

Lyell

created "Uniformitarianism"

Darwin

Naturalist that made the theory of evolution and natural selection.

Uniformitarianism

the earth's surface changes because of uniform processes

A rock eroding today tells us that the same erosion process was used to create ancient canyons. What is this an example of?

Uniformitarianism

What did Darwin study?

studied tortoises and finches and Galapagos islands.

Darwin's 4 postulates

1. variation 2. heritable traits, 3. struggle for existence/overpopulation, 4. better fitness means more advantageous and more likely to survive

Invasive animals means..

not native

descent with modification

shared ancestry but there is an accumulation of differences

Evolution definition

change that occurs in a population. occurs by natural selection

Natural Selection

Those with traits better adapted to the environment are more likely to survive

Wallace

proposed natural selection after Darwin

Wallace Line

Line in Indonesia, animals coming to the West were from Asia, animals from the East were from Australia

Fossils

preserved remains of past living organisms

What helped lay the groundwork for Darwin's ideas?

Fossils

Transitional features on fossils

shows traits from older lineages that connect to newer ones

Homology

similar structures in different organisms derived from ancestors

Over time homologous structures can do 3 things:

retain, diverge, become vestigial/non-functioning

Extant meaning

still in existence

Molecular clock

Model that uses DNA comparisons to estimate the time that species diverged

The more that animals stay put instead of move around..

the less genetic diversity there will be

Who believed in fixity of species?

Linnaeus

Who disproved fixity of species and how?

Darwin through natural selection

What is the inheritance of acquired characteristics?

things change during an individual's lifetime and passed down to offspring

Early Beliefs

Organisms were created as fixed types, variation is not important, A major objective for scientists was to classify species to understand the order of life

What is the best explanation for fossils?

Evolution

What can aristotle referred to (Latin derived)

Scala nature

Aristotle described what? Proposed what?

continuum of organization. the sequence is ordered by the most complexity

Who said Earth is old?

Lyell

Who talked about Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics?

Lamarck

evidence of existing fossils is due to the presence of...?

Anaerobic bacteria

Early earth characteristics

Earth is around 4 billion years old, evidence of first life forms found in fossils - 3.5 billion years old, future life forms evolved in response to the changes and conditions in the environment

What was not a popular belief in the 1700s?

future life forms evolve because of the changing environment