3 Mechanisms and Evidences of Evolution Flashcards
(37 cards)
- process that changes the genes of populations of organisms over time
Evolution
Evolution may be used to explain:
- origin of species
- diversity of organisms and their relationships
- similarities and differences among species
- adaptations to the environment
one of the alternative forms of the same genes
Alleles
– a group of individuals of a single species
inhabiting a certain area
Population
- evolutionary process that changes
anatomy, physiology or behavior, resulting in an
increased ability to live in a particular environment,
happens in a POPULATION (not individual)
Adaptation
- proposed by a Greek philosopher that life arose in water.
- simpler forms of life preceded complex form.
Anaximander
- French naturalist who predicted that the Earth is <6000 years old and suggested that different species may have arisen from common ancestors, though he later argued against it.
- known to be the father of Biogeography
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
- French naturalist who proposed the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
- though erroneous, his idea provided
strong advocacy for the concept of
evolution
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Lamarck’s inheritance of acquired characteristics is also known as…
Use and Disuse Theory
- British naturalist who propose together with Alfred Wallace the evolution by natural selection.
- Wrote On the Origin of the Species by
Means of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin
- Organisms beget like organisms
- There are chance variations between individuals in a
species. Some variations are heritable. - More offspring are produced each generation that can
be supported by the environment. - Some individuals, because of their physical or
behavioural traits, have a higher chance of surviving and
reproducing.
Theory of Natural Selection
- An Austrian monk that laid down the foundations of heredity.
- Showed that traits can be inherited in a well-defined and predictable manner.
- Darwin could not explain how his traits that lend fitness can be inherited.
Gregor Mendel
Laws of Inheritance:
- For each trait, there are two alleles that are
separated during gamete formation, to be joined
randomly during fertilization.
Law of Segregation
Laws of Inheritance:
- Different genes from different traits are passed
independently from parent to offspring.
Law of Independent Assortment
- Japanese biologist who proposed the neutral theory of evolution.
- The molecular changes represented by majority of molecular differences do not influence the fitness of the individual organism.
Motoo Kimura
This theory exempliied by the DEGENERACY of the genetic code.
Neutral Theory
Who Elucidated the structure of DNA based on X-ray crystallography data of Rosalind Franklin?
American molecular biologist James Watson and British
physicist Francis Crick
He identified DNA as the genetic material.
Oswald Avery
Result of differences in survival and reproduction
among phenotypes.
Natural Selection
Key challenges to living organisms
- Find appropriate habitat and environmental conditions
- Obtain necessary resources
- Avoid predators
- Find a mate (or mates)
- Produce as many successful offspring as possible
Exchange of genes between populations, mostly of the
same species, and regulated by migrations
Gene Flow
Change in gene frequencies in a population due to
chance or random events
Genetic Drift (eg. Bottleneck effect, founder effect)
Microevolution - _______
Macroevolution - ________
- below the species level.
- at or above the species level.
- Plant and animal breeding -> led to the emergence of various crop plants and different breeds of farm animals.
Artificial Selection