exam 1

Question 1

cuvier

Answer 1

paleontology - study of fossils

Question 2

lyell and hutton

Answer 2

described natural geologic processes like erosion,sedimentation, uplift (gradual changes, big impacts)

Question 3

louis pasteur

Answer 3

fall of spontaneous generation, living organisms come from other living organisms

Question 4

stages before Darwin

Answer 4

earth is old, extinction, fossils similar to extra forms, lamarcks principle of adaptation, a principle of evolution

Question 5

Darwins timeline

Answer 5

1831-1836 voyage of the beagle darwins only field trip

1844 wrote his first manuscript on natural selection - not published

1858 alfred wallace sent to darwin a manuscript that described natural section

1859 encouraged by Lyell and hooker - darwin published the origin of species in 1859

Question 6

adaptation (darwins proposal)

Answer 6

evolutionary modifications that improve the chances of survival and reproductive success

Question 7

natural selection (darwins proposal)

Answer 7

the mechanism by which better adapted organisms are more likely to survive and become the parents of the next generation

Question 8

modern synthesis of evolution

Answer 8

population genetics and natural selection combine to explain micro and macro evolution

genetics and origin of species by TG D in 1937

Question 9

impact of darwins work

Answer 9

many separate observations supported by a single explanation

provided a dynamic view of species

man no longer at the pinnacle of life

classification of organisms along evolutionary lines (still working on it)

Question 10

central unifying theme of biology

Answer 10

all existing organisms are modified descendants of other organisms - common ancestry

natural selection - differential survivorship and reproduction is the main mechanism of evolutionary change

Question 11

fossils - evidence of evolution

Answer 11

extinction is common

intermediate stages - the discovery of transitional forms has filled in some of the most talked about gaps in fossil record

stratigraphic columns - ancestral on bottom

radiometric dating - decay of isotopes at a constant rate

Question 12

morphology

Answer 12

vestigial structure - reduced or useless body parts are evidence of both micro and macro evolution

limbs in snakes, tiny use less wings in borwn kiwi

tailbone in humans pelvis in whale and dolphin

Question 13

homologous as what

Answer 13

homology - similar due to shared common ancestor

bat wings and bird wings
homologous?
as wings? no common ancestor did not have wings
as modified forearms? yes

Question 14

evidence of homology

Answer 14

homology is descended from a common ancestor

as compared to the analogy - functional similarity but evolved independently

Question 15

developmental homologies

Answer 15

embryos from different vertebrates are very similar early in development

gil pouches and postnatal tail in human embryos are also found in embryos of other vertebrates

Question 16

molecular homology - the genetic code

Answer 16

the same nucleotide triplets or codons specify the same amino acid across almost all organisms

processed pseudogenes - test hypothesis of common ancestry

Question 17

biogeography

Answer 17

similar species are clustered geographically

island faunas similar to adjacent continents

fossil forms on islands more similar to mainland form

Question 18

suboptimal design

Answer 18

accidents of evolutionary history explain many features that no intelligent engineer would be expected to design

food and air crosses in the pharynx of terrestrial vertebrates

human eye has a “blind spot”

Question 19

watching evolution happen

Answer 19

some of the most dramatic examples result from pressures human are imposing on the planet

Question 20

postulates that lead to evolution by natural selection

Answer 20

individuals within the populations vary

variation is passed on from parents to offspring

in every generation, some individuals are more successful at surviving and reproducing than others

survival and reproduction are not random but tied to variation

Question 21

characteristics of natural selection

Answer 21

main “unit” of selection is the individual but its consequences occur and are measured in populations

natural selection act on phenotypes but evolution consists of changes in allele frequencies

not forward looking - can only respond to what has occured

new traits evolve even though natural selection acts on existing variation

Question 22

types of reasoning

Answer 22

inductive reasoning - summary of a series of specific observations that lead to a general explanation

deductive reasoning - using general explanations to make specific statements

Question 23

scientific method - classical vs increased precision model

Answer 23

classical -
scientists observe, record without preconceptions, universal truths eventually emerge

increased precision model -
1.add refinement to induction (deduce, test, revise, deduce)

Question 24

correlation does not equal causation

Answer 24

ex : lung cancer vs tobacco

what would be “good” evidence that smoking causes cancer?

ruling out the alternatives

Question 25

C naive falsification model

Answer 25

falsification and corroboration null hypothesis falsified = corroboration for alternative can "prove" things "beyond a reasonable doubt" again uncertainty only at the limits problems with it - falsification can fail

Question 26

data is theory laden

Answer 26

it is the theory that decides what we can observe

Question 27

hypothetico deductive

Answer 27

science is a complex enterprise consisting of two interdependent episodes 1. imagination and creativity (invention) 2. validation and confirmation (critical examination and empirical testing)

Question 28

E paradigms model of science

Answer 28

paradigm = a scientific frame of reference defined by a set of value choices (science as a social activity) 2. science is invention or discovery followed by validation or confirmation

Question 29

dealing with uncertainty basic decision theory

Answer 29

a. applicable to all sorts of decisions b. steps formalized 1. state probable hypothesis 2. assess two ways of being wrong - state consequences if accept and is false -state consequences reject and true 3. where to place burden of proof? better to be too credulous? (accept and false) better to be too skeptical? (reject and true) 4. level of evidence needed

Question 30

phylogeny

Answer 30

an hypothesis about the evolutionary relationships among organisms

Question 31

systematics

Answer 31

constructing phylogenetic hypotheses

Question 32

taxonomy

Answer 32

identification and naming species 1. sort out closely related taxa 2. arrange species into higher taxonomic groups taxa - taxanomic units

Question 33

synapomorphies

Answer 33

shared (due to ancestry) and derived traits shared - homologous traits in closely related groups derived - need to know direction of change (polarity of change) all synapomorphies are homologies, but not all homologies are synapomorphies

Question 34

problem with homoplasy

Answer 34

convergence and reversal both are classified as homoplasy noise in the data

Question 35

methods - maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood

Answer 35

maximum parsimony - preferred tree is the one that minimizes the total amount of evolutionary change assumes that synapomorphies are more common than homoplasy maximum likelihood - given a math formula describing the probability that different types of nucleotide substitutions will occur given a particular tree how likely am i to obtain this set of DNA sequences

Question 36

boot strapping

Answer 36

creates a new data set from existing one by resampling uses new data set to estimate phylogeny determines how often each branch can be found in the trees estimated from the resampled data

Question 37

coevolution

Answer 37

when interactions between species produce adaptations in both

Question 38

cospeciation

Answer 38

speciation occurs in two interacting species simultaneously

Question 39

three kinds of variations

Answer 39

genetic variation, environmental variation, genotype X environment interaction

Question 40

the importance of mutations

Answer 40

any change to the genomic sequence of an organism raw material for evolution ultimate source of genetic variation

Question 41

types of mutations

Answer 41

point (transition, transversion) replacement (nonsynonymous) versus silent (synonymous) insertions and deletions duplication and inversions

Question 42

where do new genes come from

Answer 42

gene duplication due to unequal cross over retain original function gain new function through mutation and selection (as in hemoglobin) can also become functionless pseudogenes

Question 43

promiscuous proteins

Answer 43

capable of carrying out two functions; are espeically likely to take on new functions if duplicated

Question 44

paralog

Answer 44

a homologous gene that arises by gene duplication

Question 45

gene recruitment

Answer 45

the co option of a particular gene or network for a totally different function as a result of a mutation; the reorganization of a preexisting regulatory network can be a major evolutionary event

Question 46

gene duplication due to retroposition

Answer 46

processed mRNA (introns spliced out) reverse transcribed to form a double stranded segment of DNA integrated into one of the main chromosomes (copies not next to one another) often functionless psuedogene (not transcribed) can become functional (next to regulatory sequence or acquires via transposable element insertion)

Question 47

inversions (lock alleles into supergenes)

Answer 47

1 radiation causes two double strand breaks in chromosome 2. segment detaches, flips and is reannelaed 3. locked = not separated by crossing over

Question 48

how do complex adaptations evolve

Answer 48

made up of coexpressed traits that experience selection for a common, often novel, function

Question 49

gene expression

Answer 49

the expression of a gene is influenced by a network of regulatory elements and interactions with RNA and other gene products - important building blocks for complex adaptations novel traits can arise when existing genes are expressed in developmental context.

Question 50

a mutation that occurs in the coding region of a gene

Answer 50

may be beneficial in one context but hugely detrimental in another less common - as experience strong purifying selection

Question 51

mutations in a cis acting element

Answer 51

regions of non coding DNA which regulate the transcription of neighboring genes) by contrast, affect gene expression only in a single developmental context more common - less catastrophic effects on the resulting phenotype

Question 52

convergent evolution

Answer 52

independant evolution leading to similar traits in two different lineages - result of similar selection pressures