Darwin & Evolution

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts related to Darwin and evolution as discussed in the lecture.

Natural Selection

The process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Microevolution

Small evolutionary changes that occur within a species over time.

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

A mathematical model that describes how allele frequencies in a population remain constant over generations in the absence of evolutionary influences.

Sexual Selection

A form of natural selection involving the success of individuals based on their ability to obtain mates.

Adaptation

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

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

Vestigial Structures

Anatomical features that no longer serve a purpose in the current form of an organism.

Catastrophism

The theory that changes in the earth's crust during geological history have resulted from violent and unusual events.

Evolution

The change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

Fossil Stratification

The layering of sedimentary rocks that helps to determine the age and history of the earth.

Descent with Modification

The principle that current species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from present-day ones.

Artificial Selection

The intentional breeding of plants or animals to promote desirable traits.

The Origin of Species

The book by Charles Darwin, published in 1859, which introduced the scientific theory of evolution.

Lamarckism

The idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired during its lifetime to its offspring.

Divergence in Isolation

The process whereby two or more related populations become more dissimilar due to differing environments.

Charles Lyell

A geologist whose work helped to establish the modern field of geology and had a significant influence on Darwin.

Malthusian Theory

The theory positing that population growth will inevitably outstrip food resources, leading to competition and scarcity.

Al-Jahiz

An early Muslim scholar whose work on animals contributed to evolutionary thought.

Biological Fitness

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Thomas Huxley

A biologist known as 'Darwin's Bulldog' for his defense of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Natural Selection

The process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Microevolution

Small evolutionary changes that occur within a species over time.

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

A mathematical model that describes how allele frequencies in a population remain constant over generations in the absence of evolutionary influences.

Sexual Selection

A form of natural selection involving the success of individuals based on their ability to obtain mates.

Adaptation

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

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

Vestigial Structures

Anatomical features that no longer serve a purpose in the current form of an organism.

Catastrophism

The theory that changes in the earth's crust during geological history have resulted from violent and unusual events.

Evolution

The change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

Fossil Stratification

The layering of sedimentary rocks that helps to determine the age and history of the earth.

Descent with Modification

The principle that current species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from present-day ones.

Artificial Selection

The intentional breeding of plants or animals to promote desirable traits.

The Origin of Species

The book by Charles Darwin, published in 1859, which introduced the scientific theory of evolution.

Lamarckism

The idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired during its lifetime to its offspring.

Divergence in Isolation

The process whereby two or more related populations become more dissimilar due to differing environments.

Charles Lyell

A geologist whose work helped to establish the modern field of geology and had a significant influence on Darwin.

Malthusian Theory

The theory positing that population growth will inevitably outstrip food resources, leading to competition and scarcity.

Al-Jahiz

An early Muslim scholar whose work on animals contributed to evolutionary thought.

Biological Fitness

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Thomas Huxley

A biologist known as 'Darwin's Bulldog' for his defense of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Macroevolution

Evolutionary changes above the species level, involving large-scale transitions and the formation of new species groups.

Speciation

The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.

Genetic Drift

Random fluctuations in the number of gene variants (alleles) in a population.

Homologous Structures

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.