Evolution and Natural Selection Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Charles Darwin's voyage, principles and evidence of common descent, mechanisms of natural selection, and population genetics.

Species

Organisms that can reproduce and produce healthy offspring.

Population

A group of organisms belonging to the same species.

Charles Darwin

A biologist and ship-borne scientist on the HMS Beagle in 1831 who developed the theory of natural selection and discovered common descent.

Common Descent

The principle discovered by Charles Darwin stating that every animal originated from a common ancestor.

Descent with Modification

A change in an animal population over an extended period of time to better adapt and live in their environment.

Extinction

The event that occurs when an entire species dies off.

Uniformitarianism

The idea that slow, continuous changes over a long period of time produce a different end product.

Environmental Niche

A unique type of environment where only suitably adapted organisms can survive.

Adaptation

A trait that helps an organism become better suited to survive in its environment.

Fossil Record

A historical record of life that provides evidence for common descent by demonstrating that organisms have changed over time.

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of life, which reveals that organisms evolve in one locale and subsequently disperse to other regions.

Comparative Anatomy

Evidence for common descent demonstrating that related animals share a unity of plan, such as similar bone structures.

Comparative Embryology

Evidence for common descent showing that related organisms develop similarly during embryonic stages, such as all vertebrates having paired pouches or gill-like structures.

Comparative Biochemistry

Evidence for common descent based on different organisms sharing identical biological molecules, including enzymes, ATP, and DNA.

Theory of Natural Selection

The scientific theory resulting from Darwin's research explaining how organisms with beneficial adaptations are selected to survive and reproduce.

Variation

Small differences among individuals in a population that can make survival easier or harder.

Struggle for Existence

The competition among offspring for limited survival resources in an environment.

Fitness

The ability of an organism to survive, acquire resources like food, and successfully reproduce.

Differential Reproduction

The concept that organisms with higher fitness reproduce at a greater rate than less fit individuals.

Evolution

The change in living organisms over time.

Gene Pool

The total collection of all the alleles within a given population.

Mutation

A mistake in DNA replication that generates new genes and introduces genetic variation.

Gene Flow

The movement and transfer of genetic variation between two different populations.

Genetic Drift

The sudden loss of a large amount of genetic variation within a population.

Founder Effect

A phenomenon where a small, isolated population experiences genetic drift.

Bottleneck Effect

A drastic reduction in population size followed by an expansion, which leaves the surviving population vulnerable due to low genetic diversity.

Patagonian Hare (Mara)

South America's ecological equivalent of the rabbit that serves as evidence of adaptation to a specific environmental niche.

Dogma of Evolution

The sequential process through which evolution occurs: Mutation $\rightarrow$ Variation $\rightarrow$ Natural Selection $\rightarrow$ Evolution.