Evolution Week 2 Flashcards
How did Malthus’ ideas relate to Darwin and Wallace’s ideas about natural selection?
Claimed that only those who could adapt to society’s needs to produce useful work would
be able to survive and reproduce.
Define adaptation.
Traits that have evolved by natural selection.
Name the 3 interferences of Malthus.
Competition for survival, those that survive have inherited traits that help them and the process can slowly create changes across populations.
Give examples of articifical selection.
Dogs from wolves, crop plants, livestock (horses)
Define genetics.
the mechanisms of heredity.
Define genetic drift.
random changes to the gene pool resulting from chance events.
How has Darwin’s theory been enhanced?
Through the study of genetics and genetic drift.
What are powerful forces in natural popultions?
Natural selection and sexual selection.
Define theory.
principles that explain major
aspects of the natural world, and are supported evidence
Is evolution considered a theory? Explain.
Yes, because it can be explained but not predicted.
Define scientific law.
statements that describe or predict major aspects of the natural world
Define hypothesis
an explanation for a scientific problem that can be tested by experimentation
Theory vs law.
Explain why something happens vs predict what will happen.
What did Darwin conclude about the Earth’s age?
Applying knowledge of
depositional rates to the Weald,
concluding that it took 300
million years to form.
Define isotopes.
Same atom that differ only in their number of neutrons
