Animals in Society & Evolution 1

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture on animal evolution, natural selection, genetic modification, domestication, and animal sciences.

Evolution

The process by which changes occur over successive generations, driven in particular by the phenomenon of natural selection.

Natural Selection

The process by which forms of organisms in a population that are best adapted to the environment increase in frequency relative to less well-adapted forms over a number of generations.

Mutations

Randoms changes to DNA. Some are harmful or helpful but most do nothing. Without mutations there would be no new genetic variations at all, and natural selection would have nothing to work with

Fundamental principles of evolution

• Variation (mutations) are genetic differences and physical diversity

• Natural selection in which the environment selects among variations that already exist. Like it picks and chooses which variation or mutation is best and natures that variation survives while the other dies off

• All species reproduce under food availability and suitable habitat. Reproduction happens based on whether there’s enough food and an old place to live. If those conditions a rent met reproduction wont happen. Over many generations, helpful traits can become more common in the population while the unhelpful one doesn’t

• Species success is dependent on optimum conditions. A trait that helps in one environment might not help in another. A species thrives hen conditions are ideal for it like the right temperature, food sources, and habitat type. Like a polar bear will die in the amazon rainforest but thrives in Antarctica. When conditions of a place gifts what from a species needs then the success of the species living more will drop

Fundamental principles of evolution

• Variation (mutations) are genetic differences and physical diversity

• Natural selection in which the environment selects among variations that already exist. Like it picks and chooses which variation or mutation is best and natures that variation survives while the other dies off

• All species reproduce under food availability and suitable habitat. Reproduction happens based on whether there’s enough food and an old place to live. If those conditions a rent met reproduction wont happen. Over many generations, helpful traits can become more common in the population while the unhelpful one doesn’t

• Species success is dependent on optimum conditions. A trait that helps in one environment might not help in another. A species thrives hen conditions are ideal for it like the right temperature, food sources, and habitat type. Like a polar bear will die in the amazon rainforest but thrives in Antarctica. When conditions of a place gifts what from a species needs then the success of the species living more will drop

Fitness

The relative reproductive success of individuals or genotypes within a population in leaving offspring in the next generation

Natural selection

The environment favors certain traits that help organisms survive and produce in their specific conditions. The environment does the selecting, not humans

Artificial selection

Humans pick which organisms have desirable traits and breed those individuals

Gallus gallus

The genus and species of the present-day chicken, whose domestication started about 2,000 years ago in southern Asia.

GMO

People use biotechnology to deliberately change an organism’s DNA to give it a specific trait. Sometimes DNA from another organism is added

Development of modern animals

• Evolution

• Domestication

• Production

Domestication

• The process by which a population of animals becomes adapted to humans and a captive environment through genetic changes over generations and environmentally induced developmental events

• Or a condition whereby humans control breeding, feeding, and care

Phases of animal domestication

As these these faces progress, humans have more control, and the animals gradually change in appearance based on what the people want

• Animal attraction Is when animals are drawn near people often by food

• Animal keeping Is when people begin caring for or keeping those animals that are attracted to them

• Animal breeding Is when people breed those animals while they are in captivity

• Intentional selection is when people choose which animals they want to breed to get traits they want

What happens under domestication

• Increases reproductive ability as in animals may reproduce more successfully under human care

• Some body systems may become less developed if they are no longer needed as much

• Domesticated animals can adjust to a wider rate of conditions

• Domestication involves humans controlling the animals which is usually goal oriented

Why animal domestication developed

• As human populations grew, hunting could no longer reliably support everyone and some animal populations were over exploited

• People started to settle in near places of water and began to farm

• Domesticated animals could provide food, help with labor, and other resources

External stressors for human domestication

The primary pressures were climate change, human expansion, and resource depression, that forced humans toward domestication processes for survival

Pillars of animal domestication

• Basic sciences

• Genetics and breeding

• Reproduction

• Nutrition

• Animal production