Topic 1 - Introduction

Question 1

Define Biological Evolution

Answer 1

The change in properties of groups of organisms over the course of generations
“Descent with modification”

Question 2

What are groups of organisms and what does this imply (2)?

Answer 2

Groups of organisms refer to the “population” however extends beyond the individual to the generation

1. variation - individuals are not all alike
2. heritability - offspring tend to resemble their parents

Question 3

What are the two implications of evolution and what do they form the basis of?

Answer 3

Variation and Heritability - which forms the basis of genetic differences.

Question 4

What is meant by the point populations diverge?

Answer 4

That populations have subdivided meaning several populations are derived from a common ancestral population and a universal common ancestor

Question 5

Who’s philosophy was incorporated into Western Philosophy? and what was this idea?

Answer 5

Plato and Aristotle and the shared philosophy of essentialism

Question 6

Define essentialism

Answer 6

The idea that every entity has a set of attributes necessary to its identity and function - variation is accidental imperfection

Question 7

Expand the idea of essentialism (immutable)

Answer 7

The imperfect realization of the true species exists in variation in nature - these are immutable (unchanging over time)

Question 8

What does the “Ladder of Nature” or “Great Chain of Being Refer” to?

Answer 8

That “order is superior to disorder” meaning there would be a graduation from inanimate to more animate beings - the reflection of a divine plane where there is either a loss or gain in complexity

Question 9

What did Linnaeus contribute to evolution? but did not change from the old ideas about it.

Answer 9

18th Century established worldwide classification and naming of species
Species were still thought of being immutable

Question 10

What paved the way for evolutionary thinking? (Pre-Darwin)

Answer 10

Observations that suggest organisms change over time

Question 11

What were the observations that suggest organisms change over time? (3)

Answer 11

1. Comparative anatomy and embryology
2. Geological observations of sedimentary rock (stratigraphy)
3. fossil organisms distributed in rocks

Question 12

Who was Lamarck and what did he propose?

Answer 12

• before Darwin (1774-1829)
• believed species were NOT immutable and undergo change
• inheritance of acquired traits

Question 13

What did Lamarck refer to with his idea of Inheritance of Acquired Traits?

Answer 13

• that offspring placed in different environments undergo changes which are shared with their offspring through inheritance
• ex. giraffes and their longer necks

Question 14

Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?

Answer 14

• independently came up with the idea of Natural Selection at the same time as Darwin
• 1858 coauthored a presentation to the Linnaean Society of London

Question 15

Who and when was Charles Darwin?

Answer 15

• 1809-1882
• on the Beagle from 1831 to 1836
• inspired by Thomas Malthus essay

Question 16

What was the title of Darwin’s book?

Answer 16

On the Origin of Species by the means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life

Question 17

Explain the first two observations and the one inference for Natural Selection.

Answer 17

1. Individuals typically produce far more offspring than are needed.
2. Most populations are fairly constant in size
   - only some offspring can survive the struggle for existence

Question 18

Explain the second two observations and the other two inferences from them for Natural Selection

Answer 18

3. Individuals are all different
4. Individuals trait are largely heritable (passed on to offspring)
   - Individuals with favourable traits tend to survive
   - Individuals with favourable traits leave the most offspring, which will change the population over time

Question 19

What does Darwin’s Theory of Descent refer to?

Answer 19

That all species, living and extinct, had descended from one or a few common ancestors
- they are very similar at first but accumulate differences over time

Question 20

What is separates Darwin and Lamarck’s view for the conception of evolution?

Answer 20

Lamarck believed common ancestry plays no role (the inheritance of acquired traits) - where individual organisms change
Darwin believed in the evolution from a common ancestor

Question 21

How does Darwin summarize Natural Selection in the Origin of Species?

Answer 21

If variations are useful, thus individuals thus characterized with these will have the best chance of being preserved in the struggle for life
With the principle of inheritance, these individuals will produce offspring similarly characterized - the principle of preservation

Question 22

There are 5 examples of Evolution, what are they?

Answer 22

1. Fossil record - similar and not identical forms in rocks compared to species observed today
2. Embryology and development; and vestigial structures and organs (presence of useless structures)
3. Homology of structures - suggestion of common ancestors
4. Genetic code underlines molecular similarities of all organisms
5. Real time observations - antibiotic resistance

Question 23

How does Gregor Mendel’s work link with Darwin’s?

Answer 23

(1822-1884)

- he proposed the particulate theory of Genetic Inheritance

Question 24

How can inheritance work but still maintain variation in the population?
- what idea counters this thought?

Answer 24

• that through inheritance offspring should “funnel” towards stock model where all individuals are phenotypically similar

Question 25

Darwin’s thoughts “How do you explain outliers”?

Who answered this question?

Answer 25

• since observations of phenotypic variation in nature

- Mendel: particulate theory of genetic inheritance

Question 26

What did Evolutionary Synthesis accomplish between 1930-1940s?

Answer 26

Put together the ideas:

• Darwin’s Natural Selection
• Mendelian Inheritance
• Population Genetics

Question 27

What are 5 Practical Applications of Evolution?

Answer 27

1. The Tree of Life: identify the origins and ancestry of important groups (ex. pathogens)
2. Modify domesticated species
3. Forensics: identify genotypes
4. The evolution of pests and pathogens
5. Cancer: genetic basis and evolution

Question 28

Name the 7 Influential Evolutionary Scientists?

Answer 28

Fisher
Wright
Mayr
Haldane
Simpson
Stebbins
Dobzhansky

Question 29

What field did Motoo Kimaru advance?

Answer 29

• neutral theory of molecular evolution

Question 30

What are the more recent directions of evolution?

Answer 30

• “evo-devo” evolutionary developmental biology

- evolutionary genomics

Question 31

What are species?

Answer 31

• groups of interbreeding or potentially interbreeding individuals that do not exchange genes with other such groups