Evolution Quiz #1

• Neutral mutation


  Provide no benefit or harm to the individual
• Harmful mutation


  Reduce the reproductive success of an organism
• Beneficial mutation


  Produce a change in an individual's phenotype that gives the individual an advantage
• Artificial selection


  Directed breeding in which individuals that exhibit a particular trait are chosen as parents of the next generation; artificial selection is used to produce new breeds or varieties of plants and animals
• Fossil


  Any ancient remains, impressions, or traces of an organism or traces of its activity that have been preserved in rocks or other mineral deposits in Earth's crust
• Immutable


  Unable to change
• Paleontology


  The scientific investigation of prehistoric life through the study of fossils
• Catastrophism


  The theory that the patterns of fossils could be accounted for by a series of global catastrophes that wiped out most species on Earth
• Uniformitarianism


  The theory that geological changes are slow and gradual and that natural laws and processes have not changed over time
• Biogeography


  The scientific study of the geographic distribution of organisms based on both living species and fossils
• Homologous features


  Structures with a common evolutionary origin that may serve different functions in modern species. Example: Bat wing and human arm
• Analogous feature


  A structure that performs the same function as another but is not similar in origin or anatomical structure. For example: Bird and insect wings
• Vestigial feature


  Structures that are not used in living organisms (digits in dogs and horses, muscle for moving your ears, hips in whales); could indicate change over time
• Survival of the fittest


  A phrase that has been used to describe the process of natural selection
• Adaptation


  A characteristic or feature of a species that makes it well suited for survival or reproductive success in its environment
• Natural selection


  The way in which nature favours the reproductive success of some individuals within a population over others
• Radioisotope


  An atom with an unstable nucleus that is capable of undergoing radioactive decay
• Half-life


  The time required for half the quantity of a radioactive substance to undergo decay; the half-life is a constant for any given isotope
• Gene pool


  The complete set of all alleles contained within a species or population
• Modern Evolutionary Synthesis


  The modern theory of evolution that takes into account all branches of biology
• Plate tectonics


  The scientific theory that describes the large-scale movements and features of Earth's crust
• Pseudogene


  A vestigial gene that no longer codes for a functioning protein
• Evolutionary Theory: The idea that species change over time, give rise to new species, and share a common ancestor
• Evidence from the Past

  • Robert Hooke
  • Baron/Georges Cuvier
• Robert Hooke


  17th-century English scientist, polymath. Expertise: Physics, biology, architecture. Famous for: Microscopy work. Discovery: Cells in cork. Coined term: "Cell" for basic unit of life. Contribution: Laid foundation for cell biology
• Baron/Georges Cuvier


  • simple organism fossils found in all depths
  • more complex fossils found at shallower depths. They are more likely to resemble living species
  • Rock layers contain fossils of many species that do not occur in layers above or below them
• Cuvier's observations supported the theory that life had evolved from simple to more complex forms
• Cuvier believed species did not change, but global catastrophes caused widespread extinctions (theory of catastrophism)
• Once thought that creation was immutable (divinely designed). Earth was thought to be relatively young (Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh, 1650) and declared the Earth was created on Sunday October 23, 4004 B.C.
• Radiometric dating


  Today indicates that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and the universe is about 13 billion years old
• Radiometric decay


  Radioisotopes are atoms that undergo radioactive decay (nucleus of an atom changes and releases a subatomic particle). Decay rates can be measured accurately. Each radioisotope decays at its own constant rate measured in its half-life (when 50% of sample of parent isotope converted to daughter isotope)
• Early Ideas about Evolution


  • Sir Charles Lyell (uniformitarianism)
  • Darwin
• Sir Charles Lyell (uniformitarianism)

  • Earth has been changed by the same processes in the past & present
  • Geological change is slow & gradual rather than fast/catastrophic
  • Natural laws that influence changes, are constant & eternal, and they are operated in the past with the same intensity
• What Darwin Observed


  • Fossils closely resemble extinct organisms currently living in the same region; indicating that they could be ancestral
  • Many different species of finch found on the Galapagos Islands. They could have arisen from a single ancestral line and speciated due to isolation and filling different niches
  • Homologous features: structures that share a common origin but may serve different functions in different species (ex. Whale and dolphin flipper bones and human hands); could indicate a common ancestor
  • Analogous features: features that serve the same purpose in different species, but are different in structure (e.g. Bat and bird wings, lobster and fish eyes)
  • Embryology: the embryos of many animals are structurally very alike during the beginning of development despite no relationship to function as the organism grows
  • Vestigial features and anatomical oddities: structures that are not used in living organisms (digits in dogs and horses, muscle for moving your ears, hips in whales); could indicate change over time
  • Evidence of artificial selection: Darwin looked for a mechanism of inheritance through breeding. He found that variation was inheritable
  • In nature, the struggle for survival dictates breeding success. Darwin read Malthus' "Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798) which stated that nature produces far more offspring than are needed to survive, and that population depends on resource availability. Darwin applied this to speciation: successful individuals that exploit resources best survive to reproduce, and pass on their traits to the next generation
• Darwin's Finches: Because the food source was limited to medium-large-sized seeds, the finches that were able to adapt for their needs were the ones that had little or no competition for food; resulting in higher survival rates and reproduction success
• Lamarck's Proposed Ideas


  • All species evolve over time
  • A species evolves in response to its environment and becomes better adapted to that environment
  • Changes are passed on from generation to generation
• Lamarck's Theory is Flawed: Although organisms can acquire many characteristics during life, many features do not change in response to use
• Spontaneous generation


  The idea that living organisms arise from non-living matter
• Acquired traits


  The character developed in an individual as a result of environmental influence. These traits are not coded by the DNA of a living organism and therefore cannot be passed on to future generations
• Before technology was available to show otherwise, the thought that Earth's natural surroundings changed was unimaginable and life forms were thought to be immutable (unchanged and unchanging)