Darwin's Theory Of Evolution Flashcards
(27 cards)
What was the name of the ship Darwin traveled on?
H.M.S. Beagle
Define evolution.
Change over time.
What two types of specimens did Darwin collect?
Plants and animals.
What question did Darwin have about rabbits?
Why were there no rabbits in Australia, despite the presence of habitats the seemed perfect for them?
What is the name of the small group of islands that influenced Darwin the most?
Galápagos Islands
What was unusual about these islands?
They each had a different climate.
Describe the shell for the Pinta Island Tortoise?
A shell that is intermediate
Describe the shell shape for the Hood Island tortoise.
Long neck, a shell that is curved around the legs and neck, allowing the tortoise to reach the sparse vegetation on Hood Island.
Describe the shell shape for the Isabela Island tortoise.
Dome-shaped shell and a shorter neck.
What did the shape of the tortoise shell correspond to?
Different habitats.
What varied among the plant and animal species among the island?
Their characteristics.
What did Hutton and Lyell help scientists realize?
Earth is many millions of years old, and the processes that changes Earth in the past are the same processes that operate in the present.
According to Lamarck’s theory of “Tendency Toward Perfection”, how did birds learn to fly?
Over many generations, birds kept trying to fly, and their wings increased in size and became more suitable to flying.
Describe the concept of “Use and Disuse”.
If you don’t use it, you lose it.
According to the “Inheritance of Acquired Traits” belief, how would the fact that you lift weights and build muscle affect your children?
Your kids would be born fit and with big muscles.
Who estimated that the Earth is millions of years old?
James Hutton
Who predicted that the human population will grow faster than the space and food supplies needed to sustain it?
Thomas Malthus
Who publishes a hypothesis about “acquired” traits?
Jean-Baptist Lamarck
Who set sail on the H.M.S. Beagle and collected plant and animal specimens?
Charles Darwin
Who explained that the processes occurring now have shaped Earth’s geological features over long periods of time?
Charles Lyell
Who wrote to Darwin about evolution by natural selection?
Alfred Wallace
What is the name of Darwin’s book?
On the Origin of Species.
Define struggle for existence.
Members of each species compete regularly to obtain food, living space, and necessities of life.
Define fitness.
The ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its specific environment.
