W4 Ch.16 Definitions Flashcards
Darwin, Fossils & Developmental Biology
Population Endemic
An endemic disease is one that is consistently present throughout a specific region or population
Generation Time
The average time between the birth of an organism and the birth of its offspring
Vestigial Structures
An anatomical feature of living organisms that no longer retains its function
Homology
A characteristic shared by a set of species because they inherited it from their common ancestor
Homoplasy
The development of organs or other bodily structures within different species, which resemble each other and have the same functions, but did not have a common ancestral origin
Artificial Selection
Selective breeding of animals or plants to ensure that certain desirable traits appear at higher frequency in successive generations
Natural Selection
The evolutionary process by which alleles that increase the likelihood of survival and the reproductive output of the individuals that carry them become more common in subsequent generations
Descent With Modification in Darwins Fences
- All finches have common ancestor
- Initial colonization of achipelago of volcanic islands from mainland populations million years ago.
- little or no gene flow since then.
Acquired Characteristics
Idea that changes that an organism gains during its lifetime are passed on to its characteristics
Biogeography
The study of the geographic distributions of plants and animals
Convergent Evolution
- The evolution of similar adaptations in distantly related organisms that occupy similar environments.
- Small changes in regulation produce large changes in morphology
Fitness
An individual’s reproductive success
Experimental Evolution
- A study to observe populations evolve under controlled laboratory conditions with controls, replicates and good experimental design.
- Takes long bc evolution takes long, bc in humans, women usually don’t get children until they are in their 20’s.
Darwin’s major insights came from 3 major areas of study
- geology and the fossil record
- the geographic distribution of species
- the comparative morphology of species
Based on darwin’s two hypotheses when he was observing, what did he predict?
A population’s characteristics will change over the generations as advantageous, heritable characteristics become more common.