B5 Flashcards
(107 cards)
What is evolution?
Evolution is the gradual change in a species over time
How do organisms evolve?
Organisms evolve through natural selection because in a species there is normally a wide genetic variation. When further mutations happen, genetic variation increases
What is natural selection?
When mutations occur and those better adapted to the environment reproduce and those while the others die out and so evolving.
What is survival of the fittest?
When organisms better suited to their environment survive and those that aren’t, die out.
What is variation?
Differences within a species which give the organism its appearance (phenotype)
What is a mutation?
Changes in the gene sequence that arise spontaneously
How fast do bacteria reproduce?
Double every 20 minutes
What happens if there is a mutation in bacteria?
They usually aren’t favourable and the bacteria die instantly however sometimes mutations are favourable such as antibiotic resistance.
How do different species come about?
When there is so much generic variation and they can’t reproduce together anymore.
What are fossils?
They are formed when animals and plant remains are preserved in rocks.
How are fossils in different rock layers different?
The most recent layer is usually at the top
What is a fossil record?
When fossil layers form a sequence showing how an organism has gradually changed over time.
Where are the simplest organisms found (in terms of fossils)?
In the oldest rocks
Where are more complex organisms found (in terms of fossils)?
Organisms such as vertebrates are found in more recent rocks
How are fossils formed?
- The reptile dies and falls to the ground
- The flesh rots, leaving the skeleton covered in sand or soil before it’s damaged.
- The skeleton becomes mineralised and turns into rock after millions of years
- The fossil eventually emerges as rocks move and erosion takes place.
What do scientists look at for molecular comparisons between species?
The order of nucleic acid bases or the order of amino acids in a protein.
What is a creationist?
Someone who doesn’t believe in the theory of evolution.
What is an evolutionist?
Someone who believes in the theory of evolution
What type of ‘evolution’ did people believe from 384 BCE to the 1600s?
Spontaneous Generation
Who proposed the idea of spontaneous generation?
Aristotle
What is spontaneous generation?
The idea that life came from non-living material if the material contained vital heat (pneuma)
Who are the four men that significantly contributed to the theory of evolution?
Jean-Baptise Lamarck
Charles Lyell
Charles Darwin
Alfred Wallace
What is Lamarckism?
The idea that an organism could evolve just by thinking it in response to an environmental change
Who was Charles Lyell?
A Scottish geologist whose book, Principles of Geology, inspired Charles Darwin