Evolution Exam 1

Paradigm shifts

Major advances in science are rare but scientific revolutions result
in _____.

Thomas Kuhn

Theorized that ...

1. Major advances in science are rare.

2. Scientific revolutions result in paradigm shifts.

Evolutionary theory

the central unifying theory of the
biological sciences

inheritance

Evolutionarily meaningful, genetic change affects future
generations via ____

evolutionary medicine

-Functional approach to medicine
-Considers functions of symptoms rather than covering them all w/ medicine

Baby Fae

-Died after receiving baboon heart transplant
-Surgeon said that he didn't use chimpanzee heart instead bc he didnt subscribe to evolutionary bio

Empedocles

-Body parts arise independently from the ground
-Spontaneous generation

Anaximander

-Among the first to develop a philosophy of a natural world governed by natural laws
-Methodological naturalism
-Imagined earth as flat covered disk w/ moon and sun revolving around it

Aristotle

-Hypothesis must be tested
-Organisms are unchanging w/ fixed properties

Scala Naturae

Aristotles system for classifying organisms

Carolus Linnaeus

founder of taxonomy

interbreeding

Linnaeus created a nested classification system where _____ separated groups of organisms.

Systema Naturae

Famous book by Linneaus

invariable

Linneaus catalogues species as _____ but hybrids casted doubt. He changed his position later in life but was not able to account for changes.

Isaac Newton

-Universal gravitation
-Three laws of motion

Gradualism

Jame's Hutton's major theory

slow, continuous

Gradualism: ___, _____ processes
result in profound geological effects

Uniformitarianism

Charles Lyell added to gradualism with his theory of...

George Cuvier

First major paleontologist

dissimilar

the deeper the strata, more _____ life

extinction

Cuvier used palentology to discover _____

catastorophism

what evolutionary theory did Cuvier support due to his findings in the fossil record?

Erasmus Darwin

-Evolutionary change from a
“single living filament”.
-Struggle for existence

Robert Chambers

1. Species have changed over time.

2. Change is slow, gradual and unlinked to catastrophes. (person)

Jean-Baptise Lamark

Proposed 1st model of evolution

Inheritance of acquired characteristics

Lamark's proposed mechanism of evolution

Patrick Matthew

-Proposed his own theory of evolution by
natural selection.
-On Naval Timber and Arboriculture (1831)

those best suited to their environment

According to Matthew, what individuals will be selected over others.

Limited, traits, well-adapted

Patrick Matthew's Theory...

1. Resources are _______.

2. Individuals differ in _______ that allow them to garner resources.

3. Difference leads to organisms that are _______ to their environments.

H.M.S Beagle

Charles Darwin was a naturalist on what ship?

Thomas Malthus

-Populations can grow exponentially
over short period
-Over long period, disease, limited resources
wars, etc. curb population growth

artificial

Darwin observed ____ selection as well as natural selection.

fact, differential, fare better

Darwin's Observations...
Variation in morphology and behavior is _____.
Variation leads to _______ survival.
Some variants _________ than others.

Alfred Russell Wallace

Scientist with similar observations of natural selection to Darwin's

On the Origin of Species

Darwin's published book about Natural Selection

Descent with modification

Darwin's main contribution to evolutionary theory (I'm not talking about Natural Selection)

groups within groups

Darwins branching tree of life introduced the concept of...

1. changed

2. common ancestors, branching

3. gradual and slow

4. proportions of alleles

5. Natural Selection

Five main parts to evolution:

1. Organisms have _____ over time.

2. All organisms are derived from ________ by a process of ______.

3. Change is _______ (rates can be variable).

4. Evolution occurs by changes in ________.

5. The mechanism for the evolution of adaptations is _________.

1. traits

2. parents

3. survival, reproduction

4. frequency

5. interbreed

Five main parts to natural selection:

1. Members of a population vary in ______.

2. Traits are inherited from _______.

3. Reproductive potential and trait variation leads to differential ______ and ________.

4. Differential survival and reproduction leads to a shift in the ________ of traits.

5. With time, parent and daughter species can no longer ________.

evolution

changes in gene (allele) frequencies in a population
over time

natural selection

differential (non-random) survival of genes

adaption

inherited traits that enhance survival and
reproduction in a given environment, compared to other traits

existing variety

Natural selection among ______ _______only

do not

Variants ____ arise because they are
needed

1. benefit

2. no

3. extant

4. more complex

5. perfectly

6. individuals

To Avoid Misconceptions...

1. Natural selection does NOT occur in order to ______ a population or species.

2. Evolution has ___ goal.

3. NO ______ species can be considered to be more evolutionarily advanced or higher than others.

4. Natural selection does NOT necessarily make organisms _______.

5. Natural selection does NOT result in ______ adapted species. 6.________ do NOT adapt

mutation, natural selection

____ and ______ result in adaptive evolution.

evolutionary synthesis

The _________ provides the foundation for
modern evolutionary biology.
Contributions by geneticists, systematists, and
paleontologists reconciled natural selection with
genetics.

1870's

During the _______ most scientists accepted the reality of
evolution by descent from common ancestors.
Natural selection was generally rejected.

1930s

Alternative, non-Darwinian hypotheses were rejected by
the mid-______.

evolutionary biologists

________ have developed methods to reconstruct
the tree of life.

phylogenetic relationships

Reconstruction allows for estimating __________ among organisms.

hypothesis

Reconstruction relies upon deductive logic and ________ testing.

classification, naming

Phylogenetic analysis has historically been closely
associated with the _______ and _______ of organisms

Jorge Luis Borges

-Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge

1. Those that belong to the emperor

2. Embalmed ones

3. Those that are trained

4. Suckling pigs

5. Mermaids

6. Fabulous ones

Genus name and specific epithet

What are the components to a scientific name

increasing inclusiveness

Classification is a This is a hierarchical system because species are placed in an ascending series of groups of
________ _______.

recent

Closely-related species are descended from a relatively _____ common ancestor.

evolution

Under Darwing branching "tree of life" classification can portray the history of _______

interior nodes

-branching points on a phylogenetic tree
-Represents hypothetical species or population

root

represents common ancestor to all member of the tree

taxa

named group of organisms

character states

-used to infer patterns of ancestry and
descent among populations
-alternate forms of a particular character
-ex: long vs short necks

outgroup

-Provides root to tree
-Group that split off earlier in evolutionary history and does not share all characters of ingroup

sister taxa

-Closest relatives
-Descended from immediate common ancestor on phylogenetic tree

polytomy

-Portion of a tree that has 3 or more branches from one node
-Shows that there isn’t enough evidence to determine sister taxa yet

clade/monophyletic group

Comprised of a common ancestor species and all descendants

paraphyletic

Consists of some but not all of the descendants of single ancestor

polyphyletic

Consists of some but not all of the descendants of 2 or more species

cladistics

classification based on historical sequences organisms have diverged from common ancestors

homology

trait found in 2 or more species due to common ancestry

Analogous/homoplasious trait

trait shared by 2 or more species without common descent from independent evolution

convergent evolution

-when species that are only distantly related independently evolve similar characteristics over time due to elements in their environments
-Does not make them more closely related
-Provides misleading info about phylogeny

derived character state

evolves in a population at a point in time

Ancestral character state

The trait originally present in the ancestor of a given group; may be retained or changed in the descendants of that ancestor.

Synapomorphy

-a shared derived trait
-Provides accurate info about ancestry

Symplesiomorphy

-shared ancestral character states
-Can sometimes provide misleading info about phylogeny

the principle of parcimony

-The simplest explanation, requiring the fewest
undocumented assumptions, should be preferred over
more complicated hypotheses that require more
assumptions (for which evidence is lacking)

fewest

the principle of parcimony states that the best estimate of the true phylogeny is the one that requires us to postulate the ______ evolutionary changes.

distance methods

Species with less genetic differences are predicted to be more closely related

homology, equal evolutionary rates

The distance method poses challenges because it assumes _____ and ______

hypotheses

Phylogenetic trees based on data sets are ________

computer simulation, experimental populations of real organisms

-Independent data must be collected to reject or fail to reject these hypotheses
-Phylogenetic-estimating methods can be tested using __________ or _____________

1. characters

2. homoplasy

3. evolutionary history

4. synapomorphies

Difficulties in phylogenetic Analysis
-Scoring _______ can be difficult
-_________ is very common
-Evolution can erase traces of _________
-Rapid evolution provides few opportunities for the evolution of distinctive ____________

neo-lamarckism

Return to ideas of acquired characteristics being passed on with elements of natural selection added

Orthogenesis

theory that there are fixed goals for evolution

mutationism

Change in populations occurs in big leaps