Chapter 22 terms and concepts Flashcards
Aristotle
Viewed species as fixed (unchanging). Through observations of nature, certain “affinities” among organisms. He concluded that life-forms could be arranged on a ladder/scale, increasing in complexity “sala naturae” or “scale of nature”. Contradicted Darwin’s view that life changed gradually over time
Georges Cuvier
Paleontology, or the study of fossils. Noted that the older the stratum, the more dissimilar its fossils were to current life-forms. Also noticed some species appearing/disappearing. Darwin used fossil evidence to point to evolutionary change amongst species over time
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
Explained this in 2 principles: 1) use and disuse (commonly used parts of the body grew larger/stronger, while others would deteriorate). 2) Inheritance of acquired characteristics - organisms could then pass modifications from #1 to offspring.
Alfred Russel Wallace
Developed an hypothesis of natural selection that was nearly identical to Darwin’s. Darwin quickly finished his Origin of the Species book after reading the hypothesis submitted by Wallace
How did Darwin’s concept of descent with modification compare to the prevailing ideas of his time?
Scientists often attempted to explain the remarkable ways in which organisms are well suited for life in their environment as evidence that a Creator had designed each species for a particular purpose.
Darwin asserted that these ways in which organisms are well suited for life are because, over large amounts of time, these traits have been naturally selected as they benefit the species
James Hutton
Proposed that Earth’s geologic features could be explained by gradual mechanisms, such as valleys being formed by rivers.
Charles Lyell
Incorporated Hutton’s thinking into his proposal that the same geologic processes (gradual mechanisms) are operating today, at the same rate.
What are the three broad observations Darwin made in the Origin of Species?
- Unity of life
- Diversity of life
- The fact that species are well equipped/adapted to deal with their environments.
Adaption
Inherited characteristic of an organism that enhances its survival and reproduction in a specific environment
Natural Selection
a process in which individuals that have inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits
Evolution
Descent with modification - the idea that living species have descended from ancestral species that were different from present-day species
The pattern of evolutionary change
Patterns of evolutionary change are revealed by data from many scientific disciplines. Facts! They are observations about the natural world, and these observations show that life has evolved over time
The process of evolutionary change
Consists of the mechanisms that cause the observational patterns observed in scientific disciplines.
Fossils
A preserved remnant or impression of an organism that lived in the past
Artificial selection
The selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits
