Evolution Flashcards
(30 cards)
What can environments not support?
an unlimited population growth
What are selection pressures?
environmental factors that increase or decrease likelihood that a particular combination of genes makes it to next generation
e.g disease and dangerous environments
Evolution is about a design for what?
reproductive success
What is one word to describe evolution?
relative (depends what is happening in population at the time)
What are the 4 principles of evolution?
- natural design for gene replication
- superabundance (produce more offspring than necessary)
- natural variation
- selection pressures
What is evolutionary trade off?
where organisms cannot invest in everything
either invest in one trait or another
to gain some advantage, have to pay a price
What is intersexual competition?
refers to the characteristics that females and males use to select mates
What is intrasexual competition?
competition within a sex for access to mates
e.g male v male
What is social or group selection pressure?
where organisms who are better able to get along with the group have greater chances to reproduce
How long ago did civilisations start?
500 generations ago
What is the Environment of evolutionary adaptiveness (EEA)?
traits that occur universally in all cultures are good candidates of evolutionary adaptations
What are the 4 candidates for evolutionary adaptations in EEA?
- ability to infer others emotions
- discern kin from non-kin
- identify and prefer healthier mates
- cooperate with others
What are non-adaptive evolutionary byproducts called?
spandrels
features that arise incidentally during evolution
What are examples of by-products or spandrels of large brains?
religion
reading
writing
What are vestigial features?
traits or structures that were once useful but have now lost their original function through evolution
How do brains help fit the complexity of the it?
by being wrinkled
What is not a good measure of intelligence?
brain size
How can we measure intelligence?
look at brain weight and body weight ratio
How many neurons on average do humans have?
86 billion neurons
16 billion of which are in cerebral cortex
What is Neoteny?
slowing of the brain development process allowing more time for growth
What is polygyny?
one male forms mating bonds with more than one female
What is polyandry?
one female forms mating bonds with more than one male
What is monogamy?
relationship with 2 individuals
Raise more young if female had undivided help
What was Darwins observations of natural selection?
population can increase exponentially
remain stable once they reach a certain size natural resources become limited
