evolution 2.0

EVOLUTION FLASHCARD-STYLE QUESTIONS (BASED ON SLIDESHOW)

1. Who proposed the incorrect theory that organisms acquire traits during their lifetime and pass them to offspring?
   Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

2. What was Lamarck’s example involving giraffes?
   Giraffes stretched to reach leaves, which lengthened their necks and passed it to offspring.

3. Who proposed the correct theory of evolution by natural selection?
   Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace

4. What was the name of Darwin’s book?
   The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

5. What is a gene pool?
   All the genes/alleles present within a particular population

6. What is allele frequency?
   The proportion/percentage of a certain allele in a gene pool

7. What three agents can cause changes to allele frequencies?
   Natural selection, gene flow, and chance events (genetic drift)

8. What causes the introduction of new alleles into a population?
   Random genetic mutations

9. What is population in a biological context?
   A group of individuals of the same species living in the same location

10. What is fitness?
    The phenotype that confers the greatest advantage to an individual

11. What is a selection pressure?
    A factor that affects the reproductive success of an organism

12. What happens to phenotypes with higher fitness?
    They survive more and reproduce more

13. What is the result of natural selection?
    Populations adapt and become better suited to their environment

14. What are structural adaptations?
    Physical differences (e.g. giraffe neck length)

15. What are behavioural adaptations?
    Activity differences (e.g. playing dead)

16. What are physiological adaptations?
    Internal differences (e.g. homeothermy)

17. What happened to the peppered moth population during industrialisation?
    Dark-coloured moths had higher survival due to pollution

18. What is gene flow?
    Movement of genes from one population to another

19. How does gene flow affect allele frequencies?
    Introduces new alleles quickly and changes variation

20. What is genetic drift?
    Random change in allele frequencies, especially in small populations

21. What is the founder effect?
    A small group establishes a new population with less genetic variation

22. What is a population bottleneck?
    A large reduction in population size that reduces genetic diversity

23. What is artificial selection?
    Humans selecting traits through breeding

24. What are consequences of artificial selection?
    Desired traits increase; may reduce fitness or diversity

25. What is speciation?
    Formation of a new species through reproductive isolation

26. What causes reproductive isolation?
    Physical barriers, different mating behaviours, mechanical differences

27. What is an example of speciation from the Galapagos?
    Finches developing different beaks for different foods

28. What defines a species?
    Ability to produce viable, fertile offspring; similar DNA and traits

29. What are hybrids?
    Offspring of two species, often sterile or unfit

30. What are races/breeds/subspecies?
    Genetically distinct populations within a species

31. What is biogeography?
    Study of organism distribution as evidence for evolution

32. What does continental drift show about evolution?
    Species evolved in isolation as land masses separated

33. What evidence does embryology provide for evolution?
    Similarities like gill slits and tails suggest common ancestors

34. What does comparative biochemistry examine?
    DNA and protein similarities to show relatedness

35. What is comparative morphology?
    Study of structural similarities/differences in organisms

36. What are homologous structures?
    Same structure, different function; evidence of common ancestry

37. What are vestigial structures?
    Non-functional remnants (e.g. whale pelvis, wisdom teeth)

38. What are analogous structures?
    Different structure, same function; no recent common ancestor

39. What is a fossil?
    Preserved remains, impression, or trace of past organisms

40. What conditions favour fossilisation?
    Hard parts, rapid burial, low oxygen, fine sediment

41. What are trace fossils?
    Indirect evidence like footprints or burrows

42. What does stratigraphy say about fossil age?
    Lower rock layers are older

43. What is an index fossil?
    Used to identify geological time periods

44. What are requirements for index fossils?
    Widespread, abundant, short-lived, easily recognisable

45. What is a transitional fossil?
    Fossil showing features of both ancestral and descendant groups

46. What is an example of a transitional fossil?
    Archaeopteryx (bird with dinosaur features)

47. What are hominins?
    Modern humans and their extinct ancestors

48. What distinguishes hominins from hominoids?
    Bipedalism

49. What skeletal traits support bipedalism?
    S-shaped spine, foramen magnum under skull, longer legs

50. What was Homo habilis?
    2.4–1.4 mya, tool users with ~640ml brain and possible meat diet

51. What was Homo erectus?
    1.8–0.3 mya, first to use fire and leave Africa; ~1000ml brain

52. What is Homo floresiensis?
    A small hominin (~1m tall) with a small brain, lived ~100,000 years ago

53. What is the Out of Africa theory?
    Modern humans migrated out of Africa 50,000–65,000 years ago