lecture 8 study guide

Question 1

Intelligent design

Answer 1

the theory that life or the universe cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity

Question 2

Natural Selection

Answer 2

the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

Question 3

teleology

Answer 3

the explanation of phenomena by the purpose they serve rather than postulated causes

Question 4

adaptation

Answer 4

a characteristic that enhances the survival or reproduction of organisms that bear it relative to alternative character states

Question 5

fitness

Answer 5

reproductive success as measured by the average per capita rate of increase, also defined as survival of the form that will leave the most copies of itself in successive generations, consists of survival and reproduction

Question 6

Levels of selection

Answer 6

genetic selection, individual selection, and group selection

Question 7

aposematism

Answer 7

a warning signal to potential predators that prey are toxic or noxious

Question 8

batesian mimicry

Answer 8

the resemblance in appearance of palatable or harmless species to an unpalatable or dangerous species that is usually avoided by predators

Question 9

mullerian mimicry

Answer 9

the resemblance of an unpalatable or dangerous species to another an unpalatable or dangerous species

Question 10

competitive exclusion principle

Answer 10

two competing species that use exactly the same resources cannot coexist indefinitely, one will be eventually driven to extinction

Question 11

Resouce or niche partitoning

Answer 11

species divide limited resouces to reduce compitition

Question 12

Character displacement

Answer 12

the phenomenon where differences among similar species whos distributions overlap geographically are accentuated in regions were the species co-occur, but are minimized or lost where the species distributions do not overlap

Question 13

group selection

Answer 13

a mechanism in which natural selection may favor an increase in the fitness of a group of organisms, despite a reduction in individual fitness

Question 14

altruism

Answer 14

the behavior of an animal that benefits another at the expense of its own fitness

Question 15

kin selection

Answer 15

natural selection in favor of behavior by individuals that increase the chance of survival of their kin

Question 16

preadaptation

Answer 16

a character trait that originally evolved for a particular function that later served a new and different function

Question 17

exaptation

Answer 17

a more recent term for preadaptation as it does not have teleological implications

Question 18

naturalistic fallacy

Answer 18

what is natural isn’t necessarily good, terms like moral or immoral, just or unjust, kind or cruel, cannot describe and cannot apply to natural selection