Evolution and Macroevolution

Flashcards on Evolution and Macroevolution using the fill in the blank format.

Evolution is defined as __.

Change in a population/species over time.

__ is the Scala Natural, an early concept preceding Darwin.

Aristotle's idea of a ladder of life from simple to complex forms, with all characteristics fixed.

Realization of Evolutionary Change includes __.

All species change through time, new characteristics are passed to the next generation, change occurs in response to the environment, and specific mechanisms cause evolutionary change.

Evidence of natural selection includes __.

Adaption by natural selection and the fossil record.

Natural phenotypic variation describes __.

Deviations of structure are due to the nature of the conditions of life.

Qualitative variation is __.

Discrete variation with no intermediates.

Quantitative variation is when __.

Individuals differ in small incremental ways, measurable and continuous.

A __ is a localized group of interbreeding individuals.

Localized group of interbreeding individuals.

A __ is a collection of alleles in a population.

Collection of alleles in a population.

Allele frequencies __.

Describe how common a particular allele is in a population.

Evolution is equal to __.

Change in allele frequencies in a population.

Conditions that result in no change in allele frequencies include __.

Very large population (no genetic drift), no migration (no gene flow), no mutation (no genetic change), random mating (no sexual selection), and no natural selection (equal fitness).

The Hardy-Weinberg Principle describes a hypothetical population at __.

No change in allele frequencies over generations.

The Hardy-Weinberg Principle is __.

A testable model (null hypothesis).

Mutation is __.

Source of new diversity and alterations in DNA sequence -> new alleles.

Gene Flow is defined as __.

Movement of alleles between populations.

Genetic Drift is when __.

Chance events cause unpredictable change in allele frequencies.

Non-random mating includes __.

Inbreeding and self-pollination in plants increases homozygosity and mating between phenotypically different individuals leads to higher heterozygosity.

Relative fitness is when __.

Variants contribute different numbers of offspring to the next generation.

A diploid genome is when there are __.

Two copies (alleles) of each gene, one from mom and one from dad.

Balanced polymorphisms are __.

Two or more phenotypes stable over generations, maintained by natural selection.

Adaptive radiation is __.

Rapid speciation produces a group of related species, which occupy different habitats and use different food sources.

Extinction is __.

Death of all individuals of a species or evolutionary lineage.

The phyletic gradualism hypothesis states that __.

Most morphological change occurs gradually over long periods of time.

The punctuated equilibrium hypothesis proposes that __.

Most lineages experience long periods of morphological equilibrium and brief periods of speciation + morphological change.

Evolutionary developmental biology involves __.

Changes in genes regulating embryonic development, which can lead to morphological novelty.

Homeotic genes __.

Code for transcription factors which bind to regulatory sites in DNA controlling expression of other genes.

Macroevolution describes __.

Rapid increase in diversity through time; adaptive radiation is counteracted by mass extinction.

Binomial nomenclature is a __.

Two-part latinized name for each species, genus + species name, based on the morphological species concept.

Taxonomy is __.

Science that identifies names and classifies organisms.

Darwin stated that __.

All organisms share a distant common ancestor, and evolution produces a branching pattern of evolutionary relationships.

Phylogenetic trees are __.

Hypotheses of the evolutionary relationship between taxa.

Phylogeny and classification = __.

Classification of evolutionary history.

A monophyletic taxon __.

Comprises ancestor and all the descendant species, but no other species.

A polyphyletic taxon __.

Comprises species from different clades, but not the common ancestor of these clades.

A paraphyletic taxon __.

Comprises the common ancestor and some, but not all, descendant species.

Homologous characters (homologies) are __.

Phenotypic characters with heritable genetic basis, which arose in a common ancestor.

Homoplastic characters (homoplasies) are __.

Phenotypic similarities that evolved independently in different lineages.

Cladistic methods are __.

Based on shared derived characters = synapomorphies.

An ancestral character is a __.

Character state of ancestor of a group.

An apomorphy is a __.

Derived character in descendent.

A synamorphy is a __.

Shared derived character state.

The cladistic method is __.

Construction of phylogentic trees by groupings species with shared derived characters.