Bio Final Study Questions Flashcards
(205 cards)
1
Q
Properties of Life
A
Order, Evolutionary Adaptations, Regulation, Energy Processing, Growth and Developments, Response to environment, and Reproduce
2
Q
Order
A
Living things are composed of one or more cells, which are organized in a complex and ordered way
Ex: Scales on a fish
3
Q
Evolutionary Adaptation
A
Populations of living things change over generations through genetic adaptation
Ex: Camouflage of a white bunny for snow
4
Q
Regulation
A
The ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite external changes
Ex: Animals ability to regulate body temperature
5
Q
Energy Processing
A
Living organisms carry out chemical reactions to obtain and use energy
6
Q
Growth and Development
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Living organisms increase in size and undergo changes over time
Ex: Fetus to Adult
7
Q
Response to the Environment
A
Organism responds to environmental changes
Ex: Fly trap closing when it senses food
8
Q
Reproduction
A
The ability to produce new organisms sexually or asexually
9
Q
Biological Organization (BECPOOTCOM)
A
Biosphere, Ecosystem, communities, populations, organisms, organs, tissues, cells, organelles, molecules
10
Q
What is the smallest level of biological organization that meets the generally accepted criteria of life?
A
Cells
11
Q
What are the two major types of cells and how do they differ?
A
Eukaryotic cells- has membrane, cytoplasm, membrane bound organelles, DNA and nucleus
Prokaryotic cells- Has DNA, but no nucleus, or membrane bound organelles
12
Q
Molecular Basis of Life
A
DNA is a double helix shape and is made up of 2 long chains on a single strand of DNA
13
Q
DNA Molecular basis of life
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DNA stores genetic instructions for making proteins, guiding structure and function
14
Q
Matter VS Energy in the ecosystem
A
-Energy flows through an ecosystem one way (sun, producer, consumers then is lost by heat)
- Matter cycles within an ecosystem where they are used then recycled
15
Q
Examples of Biological Interactions
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photosynthesis in leaves to make O2, elephant eats leaves, breaks in O2 and out CO2.
16
Q
Gene expression
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Cells use information encoded in a gene to synthesize a functional protein
17
Q
Genome
A
All genetic material in an individual that provides information about the organism and directs vital processes
18
Q
Negative Feedback Regulation
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When change occurs in an environment there is an automatic corrective mechanism that reverses the change back to its original state.
Ex: Insulin lowers blood sugar when its high
19
Q
What is Evolution?
A
- Decent with modification
- Process by which species accumulate differences from ancestors as they adapt over time
-Change in genetic compositions of a population over generations - explains the unity and diversity of life
20
Q
What is Evolution not?
A
Survival of the fittest
21
Q
What are the three domains of life?
A
- Domain Bacteria
- Domain Archaea
- Domain Eukarya
22
Q
What domains of life are more similar and why?
A
Bacteria and Archaea because they both consist of single celled prokaryotic organisms
23
Q
What is the difference between Domain Bacteria and Domain Archaea
A
Cell Walls
-Bacteria contain peptidoglycan
-Archaea contain pseudopeptidoglycan, polysaccharides, glycoprotiens or pure proteins
24
Q
Unity within the Diversity of Life
A
Life is diverse and all living organisms share fundamental similarities and are connected through a common ancestry
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Darwins observations of Living organisms
Decent with
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Decent with modification
random genetic mutations cause differences among offspring
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common decent
all life on earth is related to a common ancestor
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Natural Selection
1. population with varied inherited traits
2. elimination of individuals with certain traits that make them more visible
3. reproduction of survivors
4. increased frequency of threats that enhance survival and reproductive sucess
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Genetic drift
Random process that causes the frequency of alleles in a population to change over time
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Gene flow
The movement of genetic material between populations
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mutations
change in DNA sequence of an organism, virus, DNA
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Qualitative vs Quantitative Observations
Qualitative- recorded descriptions
Quantitative- numerical measurements
33
Inductive VS Deductive
Inductive- generalizations are based on large number of specific observations
Deductive- results are predicted from a general premise
34
Is our acceptance of the idea that “all organisms are made of cells” based on inductive or deductive reasoning?
Inductive because they have repeatedly observed all known organisms
35
What are the important qualities of a scientific hypothesis?
Testable, Falsifiable, Specific and clear
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What is the function of a control group in an experiment?
It serves as a baseline for comparison to determine effect of the independant variable
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Independent vs. Dependent Variables
-Independent: What you change (e.g., light intensity).
- Dependent: What you measure (e.g., plant growth).
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In what ways does a scientific theory differ from a hypothesis?
-Theory is broad, well-supported explanation
-Hypothesis: Specific, testable
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Facts
Observations
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Hypothesis
something you test
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Theory
composed of verified hypothesis
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Law
detailed description of how something happens
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What are the three types of natural selection?
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Aristotle
Scala nature- concluded that life- forms can be arranged on a ladder of increasing complexity
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Carolus Linnaeus
Developed binomial nomenclature
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James Hutton
Gradualism: earths features formed slowly over time, older earth on the bottom and newer earth on top
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Thomas Malthus
Wrote principle of population which meant that humans suffering is due to overpopulation and not enough food supply and resources
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Lamarck
proposed evolution occurs via use and disuse and inheritance of acquired traits
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Charles Lyell
Principles of Geology: argued that the earth's geological features were shaped by the same neural processes today
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Alfred Russel Wallace
On the Origin of Species: advantageous traits become more common in generations
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Use and Disuse concept
Body parts used more become stronger, and unused deteriorate
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Inheritance of acquired traits
Traits gained during life are passed on
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Manipulative vs natural experiment
manipulative experiments involve directly controlling and changing a variable to observe its effect on another variable, while natural experiments observe the effects of naturally occurring events without researcher manipulation
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Artificial selection
Modifying something for more human use
Ex: wild mustard plant gave rise to kale, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, etc
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When discussing biological evolution, why do we say that populations evolve, not individuals?
because when an individual is created it can not change its genetic make up but it can produce offspring with genes that are more suitable for the environment
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what is the ultimate source of all the heritable variation that exists in populations?
mutations
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Why is the existence of heritable variation, as opposed to having a population that lacks variation, important to evolution by natural selections?
if there was no variation, the population can't adapt and change to its environment
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What is the evolutionary relevance of the observation that all species are potentially capable of producing
more offspring than the environment can support?
Overproduction → competition for limited resources → differential survival and reproduction, driving natural selection.
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Is a trait considered context dependent or not?
yes, because a trait is only an adaptation if it provides a current advantage in a given environment.
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Summarize Evolution by Natural Selection
Populations contain heritable variation, and individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on those traits. Over time, this leads to evolutionary change.
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Homologous traits
Similar structure, different function; due to common ancestry
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Analogous Trais
Similar function, different structure; due to convergent evolution
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What type of traits are results from convergent evolution?
Analologous traits
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Describe three key pieces of information about formerly living organisms that is provided in the fossil record
- extinct species
- transitional forms
- Temporal sequence
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Why is our understanding of plate tectonics and continental drift important in our understanding of evolutionary relationships?
Explains geographic distribution of species, isolation, and divergent evolution.
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Why do islands have comparatively high rates of endemism (species that only occur in that location) in
comparison to continents?
Islands are isolated, leading to limited gene flow and unique selective pressures, allowing species to diverge and evolve into unique forms not found elsewhere.
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What mechanisms cause the evolution of populations?
Natural selection, Genetic drift, and Gene flow
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Microevolution
change in allele frequency in a population over generations
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Natural Selection
Variable reproductive success based on heritable traits
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Genetic Drift
Change events; ex: floods, volcanic eruptions
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Gene flow
Allele transfer; immigration and emigration
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What form of microevolution results in adaptive evolution
Natural selection
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Why are mutations important?
evolution would not occur if DNA mutations never occured
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What are factors that contribute to the amount of genetic variation in a population
- mutations
- reproductive rate
- sexual reproduction
- gene duplication
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Does natural selection act directly upon phenotypes or genotypes
Phenotypes which are observable characteristics
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Describe the ways by which some DNA mutations in a gene do not result in new alleles.
-Silent mutations: no amino acid change due to codon redundancy
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How can a point mutation (a change in a single nucleotide in a gene) lead to a new allele?
A single base change can alter the amino acid sequence → changes protein structure/function → creates a new allele.
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Genetic coding Start and Stop codons
Start: AUG
Stop: UAA, AUG, and UGA
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three ways that sexual reproduction contributes to an increase in genetic variation in a
population
Crossing over, independant assortment, and random fertilization
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Why or how is some variation in phenotypes not considered heritable?
Only genetic variation can be passed on. Traits are influenced by environment, not genes.
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Gene pool
All alleles in a population
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How can two populations that overlap geographically (see caribou example) be
considered separate gene pools?
They have limited interbreeding since the gene pools are seperate
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Founder effect (Genetic drift)
Small group starts a new population
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Bottleneck effect (Genetic drift)
population shrinks dramatically due to a natural disaster then regrows
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How are the founder effect and bottle neck effect similar?
Both reduce genetic diversity and change allele frequencies by chance
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Why is bottleneck effect harmful?
loss of genetic variation reduced adaptability and there is an increase of harmful alleles due to interbreeding
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Does gene flow tend to increase or decrease the genetic differences between the populations involved?
Gene flow decreases the genetic differences between populations
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How does population size affect the influence that genetic drift or gene flow has on the genetic variation in a
population?
-Smaller populations are more affected by genetic drift
-gene flow of a single immigrant has more effect in a small population
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Two types of sexual selection
Intrasexual and intersexual
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Intrasexual
direct competition among individuals of ones for mates of the opposite sex
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Intersexual selection
females pick mate choice based on different reasons such as looks
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"Good Gene" Hypothesis
Traits that attract mates are indicators of gene quality or health
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Balancing selection
maintains multiple alleles within a population
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Heterozygous advantage
Heterozygous individuals have a greater reproductive success rate compared to homozygous
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Frequency dependent selection
Fitness depends on how common a trait is
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How does existing variation impact a populations ability to adapt to a changing environment?
Greater variety allows for a wider range of potential adaptations and increase in individuals possessing traits beneficial to survive
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What does it mean to say each adaptive trait is a compromise?
Traits often balance conflicting demands
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Biological Species Concept
species are groups of individuals that can interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring
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Morphological Species concept
Species identified by physical traits
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Ecological species concept
how members of the species interact with the nonliving and living parts of their environment
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Phylogenic species concept
Small group of organism with a common ancestor
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Prezygotic Reproductive Barriers
Habitat isolation, Temporal isolation, Behavioral isolation, Mechanical isolation, an gametic isolation
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Postzygotic Reproductive Barrier
Reduced hybrid viability, Reduced hybrid fertility, and Hybrid breakdown
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How does a barrier to reproduction potentially promote or enable the process of speciation?
It limit the gene flow between populations allowing them to diverge and evolve independently
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What is an ecological niche, and how does it relate to the ecological species concept?
the ecological species concept views a species as a group of organisms adapted to the same set of environmental conditions and resources, or a single niche
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Allopatric vs sympatric speciation
Allopatric speciation: formation of a new species in populations that are geographically isolates
Sympatiric: formation of a new species in populations that live in the same geographic area
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What processes or mechanisms of evolution are likely to contribute to the process of two geographically separated populations of one species diverging into two species?
allopatric selection
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Describe the conditions in which two geographically separated populations of one species are less likely to diverge into two species?
If there is a continued gene flow then between the two species then they are less likely to diverge into two species
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What process has gone away when a polyploid cell is produced?
meiosis or mitosis
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How does the condition of being polyploid isolate polyploid individuals from diploid individuals of the parent species?
the number of chromosomes does match which prevents successful interbreeding
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What is the key event that must occur first for speciation by allopolyploidy to occur?
Hybridization between two different species
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What is the second
key event that must occur for speciation by allopolyploidy to occur?
duplication of chromosomes
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What is the most important distinction between how sympatric speciation by autopolyploidy occurs in
comparison to how sympatric speciation by allopolyploidy occurs?
the key difference lies in whether the genetic material originates from one species (autopolyploidy) or from two distinct species (allopolyploidy)
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How can sexual selection potentially contribute to sympatric speciation?
driving reproductive isolation
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3 outcomes of hybridization
- Reinforcement
- Fusion
- Stability
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Reinforcement
Isolation between populations become stronger and hybrids don't do well
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Fusion
Hybrids are favored and the gene pool of the two species become more alike, which eventually becomes one specie
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Stability
Hybrids continue being produced and there are still two sperate species as well
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Speciation Models
-Punctuated Model: new species branches from a parent then little change happens for the rest of their existence
-Gradual Model: species diverge from one another slow and steady over time
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What is the main evidence to suggest that species do not have an internal “speciation clock”?
Speciation is driven by external ecological and evolutinary pressure
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Give two examples by which a mutation in a single allele can produce a barrier to reproduction that might lead to speciation.
1. single gene mutation can change the flower color from pink to red causing the pollinators to not recognize the flower
2. a mutation in a gene could occur to cause a crickets mating frequency to not be recognized by potential mates
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Two things sympatric speciation could be caused by
Sexual Selection and habitat differentiation
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Stages Earth developed
1. Prokaryotes
2. Atmospheric oxygen
3. single celled eukaryotes
4. Multicellular eukaryotes
5. Animals
6. Colonization of land
7. Humans
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Oparin-Haldane Hypothesis
They hypothesized that Earth had a reducing atmosphere which when combined with energy sources could allow simple inorganic molecules to form organic compounds which leads to life
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Miller-Urey Experiment
Stimulated a reducing atmosphere and produced amino acids and other organic molecules
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Places that Organic Compounds form
- Hydrothermal vents
- Volcanic activity
- Extraterrestrial sources such as metorites
-Tidal Pools/ Clay Surfaces
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Origins of life Hypothesis
1. Synthesis of organic molecules (monomers)
2. Formation of macromolecules
(polymers)
3. Protocells (vesicle formation)
4. Self-replication (originally,
probably RNA-based)
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Why might the formation of RNA have been more critical to the origin of life than DNA?
RNA can store genetic information and act as a catalyst (ribozyme)
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Ribosomes
RNA molecules that catalyze chemical reactions
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What provides the facts of record life on earth?
Sedimentary rock strata, Trace Fossils, Amber and Frozen Remains
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How does a trace fossil differ from more typical mineralized fossils?
Trace Fossils represent biological activity such as footprints where as mineralized fossils are physical remains preserved in areas
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What are the reasons behind gaps in fossil records?
Some fossils never get preserved and/ or not preserved well
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How does Radiometric Dating work?
Used the decay of radioactive isotopes (half-life) to estimate the age of rocks/fossils
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Major limitation for using the decay of carbon-14?
only used for dating recent fossils due to its short half life
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If you used radiometric dating with an isotope with a half-life of 10,000 years, and you estimated that only
1/8th of the original isotope remained in a fossil, how old would you estimate the fossil to be?
30,000
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Given prokaryotes small size and lack of hard body parts, what kind of fossil evidence exists to provide evidence of their earliest existence?
Stromatolites, Microfossils, and Isotopic signatures
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Describe the geologic evidence of the oxygen revolution that relates directly to the increase in oxygen in Earth’s oceans
Formation of banded iron formations (BIFs)- sedimentary rocks composed of alternating layers of iron-rich and silly-rich minerals
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What type of organism are thought to be most responsible for the increase in atmospheric oxygen approximately 2.5 billion years ago?
Cyanobacteria
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Describe the key events that likely led to the evolution or eukaryote
1. Host cell engulfed aerobic bacterium (mitochondria)
2. later Engulfed photosynthetic bacterium
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Describe the three lines of evidence that supports the hypothesis of endosymbiotic origins of mitochondria
and plastids
1.Mitochondria/plastids have double membranes
2.They have circular DNA, like bacteria
3.They replicate independently inside the host cell
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Advantages of multicellularity
-Specialization of cells
-Larger body size
-Division of labor
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True Multicellularity
Cell communication, adhesion, and cooperation
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Cambrian explosion driver
Oxygen increase, Genetic innovation, Ecological feedback (predator-prey relatioship)
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mutualistic relationship between plants and fungi that probably assisted both groups in the colonization of land
myocorrhizal realtionship
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How did Continental drift cause decreased biodiversity?
Habitat loss and supercontinent formation
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How did continental drift cause an increase of biodiversity
allopatric special and geographic isolation
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How does our understanding of continental drift help us understand historical and current biogeography?
It explains why there are related species found on different continents
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Effects of increased volcanic activity that causes widespread loss of marine life
increased amounts of CO2, ocean acidification, Oxygen depletion in oceans, Toxic gas release
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What are the two main lines of geologic evidence to suggest that a meteorite impact caused the Cretaceous mass extinction 66 million years ago?
Iridium layer which is common in asteroids, and crater in Mexico
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What is an ecological niche and how might this concept relate to a world-wide adaptive radiation following a mass extinction?
After a mass extinction, niched allow survivors to diversify rapidly into new ecological roles
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evolutionary novelties that arose in plants as they colonized land
Cuticle, stomata, vascular tissue, seeds, flowers
152
How did the
adaptive radiation of land plants influence the diversity of insects?
New plant forms provided habitats and food → insect diversificatio
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Explain how the evolution of bats and whales provide two examples of dramatic changes in body plan brought about through heterochrony
- Bats: limb growth extended → wings
- Whales: skull and jaw shape changed via growth timing shifts
Heterochrony = changes in developmental timing
154
what would a paedomorphic butterfly or moth look like?
It would resemble a larva or caterpillar like stage but have wings because they are adult characteristics
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How or why might a mutation or change in the location of expression of a homeotic gene contribute to macroevolution?
It would alter body plan morphology
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what do Homeotic genes control?
the development of the body structures in a set sequence
157
How does the evolution of complex eyes in molluscs support the idea that even complex evolutionary
adaptations are the result of natural selection rather than a predetermined goal?
Mollusks have a diversity of eye types and it indicates that natural selection favors different eye types in different niches
158
When you examine the evolutionary history of horses and their ancestors, is it appropriate to say that there is a best phenotype? Why or why not?
no, because there is no intrinsic drive
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Rules of Binomial Nomenclature
Genus then species are both written in italics, and the species is NOT capitalized.
160
what hypothesis does a phylogenetic tree represent regarding the species or taxa on the tree?
evolutionary relationships and how species are though to be related through shared ancestory
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What does a branching point represent on a phylogenetic tree?
Where two or more lineages have evolved from a common ancestor
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What are Sister Taxa
two evolutionary lineages that share a common ancestor
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What can we infer about the relationship between sister taxa on a phylogenetic tree?
They share the most recent common ancestor and are most closely related to each other than any other group
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How might analogous traits contribute to inaccurate phylogenetic trees?
They have similar characteristics in different species that evolved independently to perform the same function
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Homologous vs Analogous traits
Homologous traits are due to shared ancestry where as analogous traits have similar functions with different ancestry
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What is a reasonable assumption about DNA sequence similarities or differences between any two
taxonomic groups over time?
If more DNA is shared between species, they are more closely related,
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What is a clade?
group of organisms believed to evolve from a common ancestor
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How does a clade differ from a paraphyletic grouping and a polyphyletic grouping?
-Paraphylectic group- consists of a common ancestor and some n but not all of its descendants
-polyphyletic: organisms with similar characteristics but not a common ancestor
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shared ancestral character VS shared derived character
Shared ancestrial are inherited from a common ancestor, and shared derived a traits that evolved recently
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Do all species within a clade possess the defining shared derived character of that clade?
yes
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What is the principle of maximum parsimony when trying to determine the
evolutionary relationships among multiple groups of organisms using DNA sequence information?
The tree with the fewest evolutionary events is probably correct
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What additional criteria might come under consideration according to the principle of maximum likelihood?
- molecular biases and other lines of evidence
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What criteria would influence a biologist’s decision to use sequence data from ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
rather than mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) when trying to determine evolutionary relationships?
rRNA evolves more slowly and is present in all living organisms
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When we refer to genes in two different species as orthologous, what are we inferring about the underlying
process that led to similarities and differences?
The differences evolved from a common ancestral gene due to a speciation event while the similarities are because they share a common function
175
When we refer to two genes in a species as paralogous, what are we inferring about the underlying process
that led to similarities and differences in those genes?
the differences are due to independent evolution of duplicated copies but their similarities are due to shared ancestry
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Is the size of a specie’s genome and the number of genes that it has proportional to the specie’s phenotypic complexity?
no
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What is the concept of molecular clocks?
A way to measure the absolute time of evolutionary change based on the observation that some genes and genomes appeared to evolve at constant rates
178
What does polygamy mean on a tree of life?
branching point leading to multiple lineages
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What prokaryotic domain is thought to be the sister taxa to eukaryotes, based on rRNA sequences?
Domain Archea
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Horizontal gene transfer
exchange of genetic material between two organism non-sexually
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Cell Walls
*Plant- Cellulose
*Fungi- Chitin
*Bacteria- peptidoglycan cell wall made of sugars and a plasma membrane
*Archea- Outer membrane, peptidoglycan cell wall and plasma membrane
*Animal- NO CELL WALL
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Alternation of generations
distinguished by alternating haploid and diploid stages that are both multicellular
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Plants undergo alternation of generations by
Sporophyte generations alternating with gametophyte generations
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Gametangia are
Single-celled in algae and multicellular in plants
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In charophytes, __________ protect(s) zygotes from desiccation
Sporopollenin
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What prevents plants from drying out?
Cuticle
187
Are Bryophytes vascular or non vascular
non-vascular
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What characteristics enable prokaryotes to reach large population sizes?
- Mutations
- small size and rapid reproduction
- Rapid evolution and endospores that allows it to survive harsh conditions
-Diverse adaptations
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Prokaryote characteristics
- unicellular
- small size
- shapes: cocci, bacilli, spirochetes
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Prokaryote internal organizations
- plasma membrane
- chromosomes: DNA
-plasmids: independently replicating organisms
- Ribosomes: protein synthesis
191
Autotproh vs Heterotroph
-Heterotroph can't produce their own food
- autotroph can produce their own food
192
Genetic recombination
Transformation: uptake of DNA from its surrounding
Transduction: Phages carry genes from a host cell to another
conjugation: fusion on membranes that allow DNA to be transferred
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F-Factor
allows pili to form in conjugation to allow for transfer of DNA
194
R- Plasmids
small, circular self replicating molecule that can carry resistance to antibiotics
195
Supergroups of eukaryotes
Excavata, SAR, Archaeplastida, and Unikonta
196
Excavata
Include protest with modified mitochondria and protist with unique flagella
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SAR
Highly diverse group of protists defined by DNA similarities
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Archaeplastida
red, green algae and plants make up this group
199
Unikonta
include protists that are closely related to fungi and animals
200
Land plants are also known as
Embryophytes
201
Embryonic stages
Zygote- blastula, gastrula larva
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All animals with bilateral symmetry have ___ germ layers
three
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A true coelom is ____
a body cavity lined with mesoderm
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The presence of a coelom is advantageous because
it allows room for the development and movement of internal organs
205
Indeterminate cleavage produced embryonic cells that
retain the capacity to develop into a complete embryo
