Evolution Flashcards
(30 cards)
What is antibiotic resistance and how does it occur?
It’s when bacteria evolve to survive antibiotics through mutations that help them neutralize or expel the drug.
What are two examples of defense mechanisms in mutant bacteria?
Pumping out the drug and altering the drug’s target site.
What does the MEGA plate experiment demonstrate?
Bacteria evolve resistance gradually across increasing antibiotic concentrations.
What is a “superbug”?
A strain of bacteria that has become resistant to multiple antibiotics.
What does “anadromous” mean in stickleback evolution?
Fish that live in saltwater but breed in freshwater.
Why are scientists interested in pelvic reduction in sticklebacks?
It shows how traits evolve due to environmental pressures like predation.
What type of evidence is collected in the Stickleback Lab?
Anatomical and fossil evidence across time and locations.
What are selection pressures?
Environmental factors that affect an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce.
Name three examples of selection pressures.
Predators, disease, food availability.
Why are fossils typically found in sedimentary rock?
Because it forms in layers and can preserve biological material.
What is the Law of Superposition?
In undisturbed sedimentary layers, the oldest layers are at the bottom.
How does carbon dating work?
It uses the predictable decay rate of radioactive carbon isotopes.
What explains the differences in sticklebacks from Bear Paw Lake and Frog Lake?
Varying environmental pressures like predation and habitat conditions.
What is artificial selection?
Human-directed breeding to enhance desired traits.
How does artificial selection differ from natural selection?
Humans choose the traits in artificial selection; nature chooses in natural selection.
What does VIST stand for?
Variation, Inheritance, Selection, Time.
In the Silver Fox experiment, what trait was selected for?
Tameness.
What caused the dark-colored mice to thrive in lava-covered areas?
Camouflage increased survival against predators.
What was the selection pressure in the rock pocket mouse study?
Predation based on coat color and background color contrast.
What is fitness in evolutionary terms?
An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce.
What do RPM studies show about population evolution?
Populations evolve over time based on environmental changes.
Why don’t individual mice evolve?
Evolution occurs in populations, not individuals.
In the Candy Bowl Selection, what represents the selection pressure?
The predator choosing candies based on visibility or preference.
What is “descent with modification”?
Passing traits from parent to offspring, with changes accumulating over generations.
