chapter 2: the development of evolutionary theory

Question 1

natural selection

Answer 1

the most critical mechanism of evolutionary change, first described by charles darwin; refers to genetic change or changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success between individuals

Question 2

fixity of species

Answer 2

the notion that species, once created, can never change; an idea diametrically opposed to theories of biological revolution

Question 3

reproductively isolated

Answer 3

pertaining to groups of organisms that, mainly because of genetic differences, are prevented from mating and producing offspring with members of other such groups; ex: dogs cannot mate and produce offspring with cats

Question 4

binomial nomenclature

Answer 4

binomial = “two names”; in taxonomy, the convention established by carolus linnaeus whereby genus and species names are used to refer to species; ex: homo sapiens = human beings

Question 5

taxonomy

Answer 5

the branch of science concerned with the rules of classifying organisms on the basis of evolutionary relationships

Question 6

catastrophism

Answer 6

the view that the earth’s geological landscape is the result of violent cataclysmic events; cuvier promoted this view, especially in opposition to lamarck

Question 7

uniformitarianism

Answer 7

the theory that the earth’s features are the result of long-term processes that continue to operate in the present just as they did in the past; elaborated on by lyell, this theory opposed catastrophism and contributed strongly to the concept of deep geological time

Question 8

fitness

Answer 8

pertaining to natural selection, a measure of the relative reproductive success of individuals; can be measured by an individual’s genetic contribution to the next generation compared with that of other individuals; aka genetic fitness, reproductive fitness, and differential reproductive success

Question 9

reproductive success

Answer 9

the number of offspring an individual produces and rears to reproductive age; an individual’s genetic contribution to the next generation

Question 10

selective pressures

Answer 10

forces in the environment that influence reproductive success in individuals

Question 11

fertility

Answer 11

the ability to conceive and produce healthy offspring

Question 12

genome

Answer 12

the entire genetic makeup of an individual or species

Question 13

biological continuity

Answer 13

a biological continuum; when expressions of a phenomenon continuously grade into one another so that there are no discrete categories, they exist on a continuum; ex:; color, life-forms

Question 14

christian fundamentalists

Answer 14

adherents to a movement in american protestantism that began in the early twentieth century; group holds that the teachings of the bible are infallible and that the scriptures are to be taken literally