Chapter 13: Evolution

Question 1

Definition of Natural Selection

Answer 1

Unequal Reproduction.

Question 2

2 Observations of Natural Selection

Answer 2

Members of population often vary in inherited traits.

All species are capable of producing more offspring than the environment can support.

Question 3

2 Inferences of Natural Selection

Answer 3

Those with stronger inherited traits (survival & reproduction) tend to produce more offspring.

The unequal reproduction will cause accumulation of favourable traits in population over generations.

Question 4

3 Key Points of Natural Selection

Answer 4

Individuals do not evolve, but can adapt to environment.

Natural Selection can only amplify or diminish heritable traits.

Evolution is not goal directed, but is the response to environmental factors.

Question 5

Adaptive Radiation

Answer 5

An event where a lineage rapidly diversifies.

Question 6

Aristotle’s Belief

Answer 6

Species were fixed & unchanging.

Recognized continuous variation in nature, with hierarchy of life forms of increasing complexity.

Question 7

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Answer 7

Partnered with Alfred Wallace.

Theory of descent of modification (natural selection).

Believes that all life forms are related.

Question 8

Artificial Selection

Answer 8

Man- modified species by selecting repeatedly & breeding organisms with desired traits.

Question 9

Fossils

Answer 9

Remnant of an organism that lived in the past.

Question 10

Preservation of Fossils

Answer 10

Hard body parts preserve better (bones, teeth, shells).

Soft body parts require special circumstances to prevent decay (amber, ice, acid bogs).

Question 11

Cast

Answer 11

Body part decays but leaves a mould in sediments, can be filled by minerals in water.

Question 12

Trace Fossils

Answer 12

Remnants of ancient organism’s behaviour (footprints, burrows).

Question 13

Fossil Record

Answer 13

Sequence in which fossils appear in layers of sedimentary rocks.

Question 14

Hierarchy of Life (Largest to Smallest)

Answer 14

Kingdom > phylum > class > order > family > genus > species.

Question 15

Mass Extinctions: Permian

Answer 15

AKA the great dying.

Largest ( 96% of marine life & 70% of terrestrial species).

Caused by massive increase in volcanic eruptions.

Occurred In Siberia.

Question 16

Mass Extinctions: Cretaceous

Answer 16

The end of dinosaurs.

Caused by a meteor.

Occurred in Mexico.

Question 17

Techtonic Plate Boundaries: Divergent

Answer 17

Plates moving away from each other.

Creates large crack/ rift.

Or seafloor spreading.

Question 18

Techtonic Plate Boundaries: Convergent

Answer 18

Plates move towards one another.

Subduction zone.

Or both plates lift & form mountains (increase height 1-2 inches per year).

Fast movement of plates together cause friction (earthquakes).

Question 19

Techtonic Plate Boundaries: Transform

Answer 19

Plates moving parallel in opposite directions.

Creates crack/ fault in earth’s crust.

Built up pressure causes earthquakes.

Question 20

Subduction

Answer 20

2 earth plates come together, lighter pushed up, heavier sinks into hot mantle, rock melts & volcanoes form.

Question 21

Ring of Fire

Answer 21

Frequent eruptions & earthquakes.

Question 22

Seafloor Spreading

Answer 22

2 plates diverge, magma from mantle rises to fill gap & creates ridge.

Question 23

Mechanical Layers of Earth (Outer to Inner)

Answer 23

Lithosphere > Asthenosphere > mesosphere > outer core > inner core.

Question 24

Archaean Eon

Answer 24

4.6 bya - 2.5 bya.

Prokaryotes.

Question 25

Proterozoic Eon

Answer 25

2.5 bya - 542 mya. Prokaryotes, atmospheric 02, single- celled eukaryotes, multicellular eukaryotes.

Question 26

Phanerozoic Eon

Answer 26

542 mya - present. Prokaryotes, atmospheric 02, single- celled eukaryotes, multicellular eukaryotes, animals, colonization of land.

Question 27

Stanley Miller Experiment- 1953 (Cell Replication): Objective

Answer 27

Simulation of organic compounds on earth.

Question 28

Stanley Miller Experiment: Step 1

Answer 28

Organic molecules formed. Amino acids, gases, N2, CO2.

Question 29

Stanley Miller Experiment: Step 2

Answer 29

Polymer creations. Stick monomers together using dehydrogenase enzymes (removes water).

Question 30

Stanley Miller Experiment: Step 3

Answer 30

Protocells. Lipids to water with clay vesicles naturally form. Fatty membrane around, which can grow & divide. Organic molecules more concentrated on surface of clay, which helps interact easier.

Question 31

Stanley Miller Experiment: Step 4

Answer 31

Self- replicating RNA. Monomers of RNA form short RNA polymers, assemble RNA chain. When RNA added to solution of monomers can create complementary RNA.

Question 32

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Answer 32

Father of taxonomy. Created binomial naming system (hierarchy of species). Believed that the grouping did not imply evolution, but God's plan.

Question 33

Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)

Answer 33

Father of palaeontology. First to document history of life on earth, recorded in layers of rock. Oldest layer. deepest strata contained species very different from today. Did not believe in evolution, but catastrophism.

Question 34

James Hutton (1765)

Answer 34

Scottish geologist. Proposed theory of gradualism. Possible to explain variations in landforms by examining mechanisms currently operating in the world. Changes in earth's crust were overall product of slow, continuous processes.

Question 35

Charles Lyell (1797-1875)

Answer 35

Wrote "Principles of Geology". Theory of uniformitarianism. Processes that build up mountains must eventually be balanced by erosion of those mountains.

Question 36

Jean Baptiste (1744-1829)

Answer 36

First theory of evolution. Compared fossil species with living animals.