Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

Question 1

What did Charles Darwin do in terms of natural selection?

Answer 1

Proposed a mechanism of evolution he called natural selection

Question 2

What did Charles Darwin say about natural selection?

Answer 2

Stated that this process of evolution has been taking place for millions of years

Question 3

Natural Selection

Answer 3

Process by which individuals better suited to their environments survive and reproduce the most successfully

(also referred to as survival of the fittest)

Question 4

Darwin believed that natural selection worked on populations because of the presence of _______ _______

Answer 4

natural variations

Question 5

Natural Variation

Answer 5

differences among individuals of the same species

Question 6

Natural variation can be found in ___ species according to Darwin.

Answer 6

all

Question 7

Natural variations ___ be passed down to the next generation, according to Darwin.

Answer 7

can

Question 8

Where does natural variation come from?

Answer 8

sexual reproduction, genetic mutations, and crossing over

Question 9

4 major parts of natural selection that drive evolution

Answer 9

genetic variation, selective pressure, survival (of the fittest), reproduction

Question 10

fitness

Answer 10

the ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

Question 11

adaptation

Answer 11

any inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s chance of survival

Question 12

What happens to individuals with low fitness?

Answer 12

die or produce a small number of offspring

Question 13

Adaptations can be…

Answer 13

physical, biochemical, behavioral

(porcupine quills, resistance to pesticide, hunting in a pack)

Question 14

selective pressure

Answer 14

a pressure put on by environment that favors a certain phenotype

Question 15

common ancestry

Answer 15

a species that is the ancestor of two or more different species later in time