Biology 312 Exam Review: Evolutionary Biology and Genetics

Comprehensive flashcards covering population genetics, molecular phylogenetics, human evolution, and evolutionary theory based on Bio 312 Exam material.

Synapomorphy

A shared derived trait that is useful for building phylogenetic trees and identifying monophyletic groups.

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

A model describing a population where allele and genotype frequencies remain constant over time due to a lack of evolution and random mating.

Fundamental requirements for evolution

The three properties a population must have to be capable of sustained evolution: variation, heredity, and selection.

Homo neanderthalensis

A human relative exhibiting early evidence of conscious being, such as healing the injured (indicated by fossil healed broken legs) and conceptualizing an afterlife (indicated by flower petals on graves).

Foramen magnum

The large opening on the ventral surface of the skull for the spine; its anterior move (forward) indicates a shift to an erect, upright walking posture.

Mimicry: Batesian

A form of mimicry where one species is dangerous while the other mimic species is not.

Mimicry: Mullerian

A form of mimicry where both the copier and the model species are dangerous.

Homology

Similarity in traits exhibited by different species because of shared ancestry rather than similar function.

Analogy

Similarity in traits due to present function or convergent evolution in unrelated species, rather than shared ancestry.

Allopatric speciation

A speciation process in which two populations are physically isolated from one another by a barrier and diverge over time.

Parapatric speciation

Speciation occurring across a wide geographic range with differing environmental conditions at the extremes.

Sympatric speciation

Speciation occurring within a single area due to adaptation to different microenvironments.

Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection

The principle stating that the rate of response to natural selection (evolution) is directly proportional to the heritable variation in a population.

Antagonistic pleiotropy

An evolutionary explanation for senescence where certain genes provide a fitness benefit in youth but cause deleterious effects as the organism ages.

Eusociality

A social structure where individuals forgo their own reproduction to exclusively assist the reproduction of relatives.

Semelparous

An organism that reproduces only once in its life.

Iteroparous

An organism that reproduces multiple times over successive seasons.

Phenotypic plasticity

The phenomenon where a single genotype can lead to different phenotypes based on environmental conditions.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL)

A technique used to find the locations in a genome of single genetic factors that have a disproportionate effect on a quantitative phenotype.

Monophyletic

A group consisting of an ancestral species and all of its descendants.

Paraphyletic

A group consisting of an ancestral species and some, but not all, of its descendants.

Polyphyletic

A group of taxa that excludes the common ancestor of those taxa.

Symplesiomorphy

A shared ancestral trait that can cause homoplasy and make tree reconstruction more difficult.

Cinderella effect

The observation in evolutionary psychology that men may murder their adopted children at higher rates than their biological children.

Smoke detector principle

The general principle that it is evolutionarily better to be overly cautious than overly bold (better safe than sorry).

Linkage disequilibrium

An association between alleles at two or more loci that is non-random within a population.

Punctuated equilibrium

The theory that major morphological changes are separated by long periods of morphological stasis in the fossil record.

Muller's Ratchet

A process in which asexual populations accumulate deleterious mutations over time; sexual reproduction prevents this through recombination.

HOX genes

A set of regulatory genes that control axial patterning in vertebrates during development.

Transversion

A mutation or substitution changing a purine nucleotide to a pyrimidine.

Transition

A mutation or substitution changing one purine to the other purine, or one pyrimidine to the other pyrimidine.

Effective population size (Ne)

The size of an ideal population that would experience the same amount of genetic drift as the actual population being studied.

Handicap principle

A model of female choice suggesting females prefer traits that indicate a male has high vigor to handle the cost of the trait.

65 million years ago

The approximate time period when the dinosaurs went extinct.

543 million years ago

The approximate time period of the Cambrian explosion.