Evolution and Darwin's Theory

Vocabulary practice cards based on lecture notes covering Charles Darwin's voyage, observations at the Galapagos Islands, and the development of the theory of evolution.

Evolution

The process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms; also defined as change over time.

Voyage of the Beagle

A voyage around the world starting on Feb 12, $1831$, led by a captain to find evidence for a hypothesis about how life changes over time.

HMS Beagle

The name of the ship Darwin used for his travels and observations.

Fossils

The preserved remains of ancient organisms. Some resemble species still alive today, while others appear completely unlike any creature ever seen.

Hood Island Tortoise

A tortoise with a long neck and a shell that is curved and open around the hood and neck, allowing it to reach dispersed vegetation.

Isabela Island Tortoise

A tortoise with a dome-shaped shell and a shorter neck, living on an island where vegetation is more abundant and closer to the ground.

Pinta Island Tortoise

A tortoise with a shell shape that is intermediate between the Hood Island and Isabela Island forms.

Natural Variation

The differences that exist among individuals of a single species.

Artificial Selection

A process where nature provides variation in organisms, and humans select the variations they find useful.

Struggle for Existence

The competition among members of each species for food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

Survival of the Fittest

A concept where individuals better suited for the environment survive and reproduce, resulting in natural selection.

Natural Selection

A process that results in changes in the inherited characteristics of a population over time, which increases a species' fitness in its environment.

Descent with Modification

The principle that living organisms have descended with changes from other species over time.

Common Descents

The theory that all species were derived from a common ancestor.

Homologous Body Structures

Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissue in different organisms.

James Hutton

A scientist ($1726$ - $1797$) who proposed that geological forces shaped the Earth and that the Earth is much older than thousands of years.

Charles Lyell

A scientist who proposed the principles of geology, suggesting that geographical features can be built up or turned down over long periods.

Inheritance of Acquired Traits

A hypothesis mentioned in the context of Lamarck's ideas, alongside others like the tendency towards perfection and 'use and disuse'.

Thomas Malthus

A $19$th-century English economist who observed that if human populations grow faster than the rate of death, there will eventually be insufficient food and space.

Alfred Russel Wallace

A scientist who wrote an essay summarizing evolutionary change based on his field work in Malaya, which prompted Darwin to publish his own theory.