3.8 / 3.9 Evolutionary Basis of Behavior / Summary

Question 1

Fitness 124

Answer 1

Fitness 124 – refers to the reproductive success (number of descendants) of an individual organismrelative to the average population.

Question 2

Natural Selection 124

Answer 2

Natural Selection 124 – posits that heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely that alternative characteristics to be passed on to subsequent generations and thus come to be “selected over time.

Question 3

Adaptation 125

Answer 3

Adaptation 125 – an inherited characteristic that increased in a population (through natural selection during the time it emerged.

Question 4

Mutation 125

Answer 4

Mutation 125 – a spontaneous, heritable change in a piece of DNA that occurs in an individual organism.

Question 5

Inclusive Fitness 126

Answer 5

Inclusive Fitness 126 – the sum of an individual’s own reproductive success plus the effects the organism has on the reproductive success of related others.

Question 6

Critical Period 131

Answer 6

Critical Period 131 – a limited time span in the development of an organism when it is optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the organism is especially responsive.

Question 7

Charles Darwin 124

Answer 7

Charles Darwin 124 –
1859
Legendary British Nationalist
Wrote the landmark book ‘On the Origin of Species’ 1859
-explained how an why evolutionary changes happen over time.
Darwin’s 4 Key Insights:
1.) organisms vary in endless ways
2.)some of these characteristics are inheritable
3.) Organisms tend to produce offspring at a pace that outstrips the local availability of resources.
4.)If a specific heritable trait contrivutes to an organism’s survival or reproductive success, organisms with that trait should produce more offspring than tohse without the trait ( or those with less of the trait) should gradually increase over generations – resulting in evolutionary change.

2 Main Implications:

1. ) diversity of life is a product of a natural process rather than divine creation.
2. )Humans are not unique and that they share a common ancestry with other species.