Ecology and Evolution - Unifying Principles and Natural Selection

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering unifying principles of biology, scientific thinking, evolution, natural selection, and evidence for evolutionary change.

Biology

The study of life.

Cell

A biological structure with a membrane that separates everything inside from the environment.

Prokaryotes

Organisms composed of cells that have no nucleus.

Eukaryotes

Organisms composed of cells that contain a nucleus and other specialized structures called organelles.

Photosynthesis

The biological process that produces usable energy from light (solar energy).

Cellular Respiration

The biological process that converts different types of energy into forms used in the cell.

Homeostasis

The maintenance of internal conditions of the body of an organism that are different from its surrounding environment, such as body temperature and oxygen levels.

Evolution

A change in the trait frequencies of a population over time.

Proximate Questions

Mechanical scientific questions that focus on how a biological process or mechanism functions.

Ultimate Questions

Evolutionary scientific questions that focus on why a trait or behavior exists.

Deductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking used in mathematics and philosophy that tests a general idea.

Inductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking that uses specific observations to make general conclusions that can be tested.

Hydnellum peckii

A mycorrhizal fungus species, also known as "strawberries and cream" or "Devil's tooth", that produces spores on teeth, yields atromentin, and is used to dye yarn and wool.

Atromentin

A chemical compound produced by Hydnellum peckii that functions as an anticoagulant and antibacterial agent.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species where evolutionary changes occur over time.

Charles Darwin

English naturalist, geologist, and biologist ($1809$--$1882$) who authored On the Origin of Species ($1859$) and described natural selection and common ancestry.

Natural Selection

An evolutionary mechanism where the environment works on variation in organisms, causing individuals with traits (alleles) better suited to the environment to survive and produce more offspring.

Common Ancestry

The concept that all species share common ancestors and originate from preexisting species through descent with modification.

Alfred Russel Wallace

English historian and geographer ($1823$--$1913$) who suggested common ancestry using a tree metaphor, developed a theory of natural selection, and co-published with Charles Darwin in $1858$.

Mc1R

The melanocortin-1 receptor gene that regulates the production of coat color proteins (eumelanin and phaeomelanin) in mammals and birds, as studied in Oldfield mice (Peromyscus polinontus).

Fitness

The relative survival and reproductive success of individuals possessing specific advantageous traits within a population.

Adaptation

An inherited trait that enhances an organism's fitness and serves the specific function for which natural selection acted upon it.

Homology

The study of likeness or structural similarities among species that share a common ancestor, characterized by limbs that have different functions but the same arrangement of bones.

Vestigial Structures

Anatomical features present in an organism that existed in its ancestors but no longer serve a functional purpose due to evolutionary change.