Unit 1

• What is one of the most important parts of science?

  To disapprove (falsify)
• What is creationism/creation?

  Belief that the universe and living organisms were created by a divine being.
• What was the last try to introduce region based alternatives to evolution?

  "Intelligence design" based on "irreducible complexity" created by Micheal Behe (wrote a book about it - trail to be taken out of schools)
• What was the claim behind the "intelligence design" theory?

  If things are complex and you take one part away and it doesn't work - it means they have to be created by a intelligence designer (loophole to the ban of the word creator on science)
• What was the flying spaghetti and meatball monster picture?

  Used a way to make fun of selective use of creator by those who claim belief in theory
• What influenced Darwin to consider Artificial Selection?

  The way humans could modify organisms to fit desires (horses, cows, chickens, pigs) (had been done for +10k years)
• What did a lot of human activity do?

  Create domestic animals from wild animals
• What do all artificial selection organisms share with ancestors?

  Morphological and biochemical morphologies (i.e. dogs that are different sizes kept the appetite & behaviors of respective ancestors)
• True or False: Was artificial selection unintentional first? True
• What was some of the early examples of artificial selection?

  Humans created modern corn from ancestral plant - teosinte (hunter & gatherers & seed dispersion) or they selective bred their domestic animals
• What is sexual selection?

  Selective pressure from the preferences that ind. of one gender have for traits of ind. of the other gender (female has to be picky since they risk life for pregnancy and need quality offspring)
• Darwin made connection between human selection of desirable features & nature's ability to "select" features of living things (think peacock & bright wings being weakness)
• Natural Selection refers to the evolution of traits in non-domesticated organisms because of their interaction w/environment
• What are the 4 postulates in the evolution of flower color in an experimental snapdragon population?

  Postulate 1: Snapdragons vary in flower color Postulate 2: This variation is due to diff. in genotype for a single gene Postulate 3: By tracking bee visits, it was determined that the plants varied in pollen donation & seed set Postulate 4:White-flowered plants were more reproductively successful than yellow
• What are the level of classification?

  Domain (BAE), Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• What is evolution and how does it happen and how do we measure it?

  Change over time, reproduction, and microevolution (always happen)
• Who was Darwin?

  Grandson of physician (wealthy family), went to University of Cambridge for Divinity, wanted to be country clergyman
• What were clergyman?

  Naturalist and practiced nature theology
• What is immutable?

  Unchanging
• What is doctrine of signatures?

  All living things on Earth was placed by God's intention
• What was the voyage of Beagle?

  A route among South America where Darwin was companion of Captain Robert Fitzroy
• What did Darwin do on the Beagle voyage?

  Had time to travel and practice his skills as a naturalist
• What is biogeography ?
• What is Biogeography?

  The study of the distributions of living things across space (founded by Alexander Von Humboldt - Darwin would've known of his work)
• What did Darwin notice about animals in SA?

  They were more alike to each other (and extant orgs) than those in Europe (patterns)
• How did geology influence Darwin?

  Charles L. proposed the idea of uniformitarianism (slow processes can create large changes over time) and James Hutton proposed gradualism (profound changes result from slow cont. process - meant that Earth had to be older than 6k years)
• How did Paleontology influence Darwin?

  George Curvier observed fossil records that showed orgs moving over time (less complex to more) and tried to explain with catastrophism
• What is catastrophism?


  First proposed mechanism of evolution and catastrophes wiped out first orgs then new orgs in progressively higher rock strata
• How did other naturalists influence Darwin?

  Jean Baptiste L. proposed that species evolved by inheritance of acquired traits (god worked toward perfection) (i.e. giraffe necks)
• How did taxonomy influence Darwin?

  Carolus Linnaeus developed the taxonomic classification system (similar to see w/basal stem, hierarchical pattern of relatedness among species)
• How did Human Demography & Economics influence Darwin?

  Thomas Malthus (wrote an Essay one the Principle of Population) wrote mainly about humans but Darwin applied to all living things: organisms have more kids than will live, pop # grows overtime, competition for limited resources, Darwin wondered who lived/died, way more competition
• What was Darwin's big idea?

  1. Descent with modification (pattern)
  2. Natural selection as the mechanism of evolution (process)
• What are ring species?

  two populations which do not interbreed are living in the same region and connected by a geographic ring of populations that can interbreed
• What are homologies?

  Similarities in characteristics resulting from common ancestry (muscles in humans, cats, whales, bats)
• What are vestigial organ?

  Homologous structures that lost original function (appendix erector pilli and body hair, wisdom teeth, male breast tissue & nipple)
• What are atavisms?

  Reappearance of ancestral characteristics (still have the gene) (Ex. Hind limbs in whales/dolphins, extra toes in horses, tails on humans, Hen's teeth)
• What do molecular homologies do?

  Show relationship between orgs that have no other common ancestry (all species have RNA & DNA and share certain proteins - so many nucleotides & amino acids) (if genes don't evolve then important not to change)
• Molecular homologies were not around for Darwin
• Soapberry are active example of change (incipient) evolution
• Extinction is the example of immutability not being true (remember George's idea about catastrophism)