Chapter 22: Darwinism View of Evolution

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Chapter 22: Descent with Modification and the Darwinian view of life.

Descent with Modification

Species descend from a common ancestor with modifications over generations; central idea of Darwin's theory.

Darwinian View of Life

Life evolves through natural selection acting on heritable variation.

Evolution

Change in inherited traits of populations over generations.

Natural Selection

Process where individuals with advantageous inherited traits survive and reproduce more successfully.

Adaptation

A heritable trait that increases an organism's fitness in a given environment.

Relative Fitness

A measure of how well a genotype or phenotype contributes to future generations relative to others.

Survival of the Fittest

Phrase describing differential survival and reproduction due to varying fitness.

Tree of Life

Concept that all living things are related through common descent, shown as a branching diagram.

Fossil Records

Evidence of past life preserved in rocks, showing changes over time and transitional forms.

Homologous Structures

Body parts in different organisms with a common ancestry and similar structure.

Vestigial Structures

Remnants of features once functional in ancestors, now reduced or unused.

Molecular Evidence

Genetic data (DNA/proteins) used to infer evolutionary relationships.

Biogeography

Geographic distribution of species and life forms, informing evolutionary patterns.

Binomial Nomenclature

Two-part scientific naming system for species (genus + species) developed by Linnaeus.

Linnaeus

Swedish naturalist who established taxonomy and binomial nomenclature.

Taxonomy

Science of naming, describing, and classifying organisms.

Nested Classification

Hierarchical organization of organisms into increasingly specific categories.

Catastrophism

Idea that Earth's features arose from sudden, catastrophic events.

Uniformitarianism

Idea that present geological processes operated in the past at similar rates.

Hutton

Geologist advocating gradual geological change through everyday processes.

Lyell

Geologist popularizing uniformitarianism and slow, ongoing geology.

Lamarck

Early evolutionary theorist proposing use/disuse and inheritance of acquired traits.

Use and Disuse

Theory that organs become more or less developed based on use, with acquired traits inherited.

Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

Lamarck's claim that traits developed during life can be inherited by offspring.

Observations before voyage

Darwin noted variation in inherited traits and overproduction leading to competition.

Artificial Selection

Deliberate human breeding to select for desired traits.