Evolution by Natural Selection

Question 1

What was Darwin’s book that influenced evolution

Answer 1

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species

Question 2

What voyage did Darwin go on that he was able to do all his collecting and for how long

Answer 2

HMS Beagle and 1831-1836

Question 3

Where did Darwin’s finches come from

Answer 3

the galapagos islands

Question 4

Darwin saw in domestic plant and animal breeding a _________.

Answer 4

potential mechanism for evolution

Question 5

What are Darwin’s Four Postulates of Natural Selection

Answer 5

1. Individuals within populations are variable.
2. Variations among individuals are, at least in part, passed from parents to their offspring.
3. In every generation, some individuals are more successful at surviving and reproducing than others.
4. The survival and reproduction of individuals are not random. Survival and reproduction are tied to variation among individuals in one or more aspects of the phenotype.

Question 6

What did the Grant’s Studies discover

Answer 6

• Links among variation in morphology, molecules, function, and fitness
• Illustrates interaction of abiotic and biotic agents of selection

Question 7

What does it mean on a graph for heritability variation that as a positive slow

Answer 7

Positive slope means offspring tend to resemble parents

Question 8

What genes are responsible for variation in beak size?

Answer 8

Among species, variation in beak size due to differences in timing of expression of bone morphogenic protein (BMP4).

Question 9

Recent study has documented that
pathway involving expression of
calmodulin (CaM) affects?

Answer 9

affects variation in beak morphology among species

Question 10

What happened to the finches beaks after a drought?

Answer 10

their beaks grew larger and harder in order to crack the harder and larger seeds

Question 11

Herrel and colleagues in 2005 measured what in 147

Geospiza fortis.

Answer 11

bite force

Question 12

Another recent study has found that increased bite force may be especially important for what?

Answer 12

decreasing the time required for husking seeds

Question 13

Principal components (PCs) are multivariate combinations of individual variables that influence _______

Answer 13

size and shape

Question 14

What happened in 2003-2004 between large G. magnirostris and small magnirostris

Answer 14

a drought happened but the small finches out competed the large ones so a small sharp beak was favored

Question 15

What are some characteristics of Malignant Hyperthermia

Answer 15

• Caused by exposure to certain anesthetics.
• Rapid increase in metabolic rate and body temperature.
• Can cause damage and death.
• Related to mutations in the ryanodine receptor that allow massive influx of Ca++

Question 16

What are two characteristics of the Bill Fish’s eye

Answer 16

Specialized ocular muscle produces heat and Doesn’t contract

Question 17

What is the nature of natural selection

Answer 17

• Natural Selection acts on individuals, but its consequences occur in populations.
• Natural Selection acts on phenotypes but evolution consists of changes in allele frequencies.
• Natural Selection is not forward looking.

Question 18

What are two examples of new traits that can evolve, even though Natural Selection acts on existing traits.

Answer 18

–Mutation

–And, in sexual species, meiosis and fertilization recombine existing alleles into new genotypes.

Question 19

Panda’s “thumb” is a modified _______

Answer 19

radial sesamoid (wrist bone)

Question 20

Why does the panda have a “thumb”

Answer 20

Structures evolved originally for one purpose, but then selected and modified for another purpose are often termed preadaptations.