General Biology 2

• 4 main categories of evolution

  1. Fossil Record
  2. Biochemical
  3. Comparative Anatomy
  4. Observable Events
• Evolution is a genetic change in a population through time.
• Charles Darwin found evidence of gradual change (evolution). He cited evidences and found fossil records, geographic distribution and homologous structures.
• Paleontology is a study of fossils
• Fossils is the remains or traces of an organism that lived long ago.
• Fossils are found in layered sedimentary rock
• Oldest fossils are on the lower layer
• Comparing fossils from different layer shows
• Biochemical is the Genetic Code
• Triplets of DNA nitrogen-base sequences that code for specific amino acids.
• The amino acid triplet is the same in almost all organisms.
• Biochemical is the probable common ancestor for all life on Earth
• "Universal" Genetic Code
• Over the ages, the genetic code has passed unchanged (or nearly so) from parent to offspring.
• Genetic Code is similar genes
• Amino acid sequencing is a particular protein compared between organisms.
• Cladogram shows the evolutionary relationship among a group of organisms.
• Homologous structures are structure with similar structure/build but different function.
• Homologous structures show:

  1. Similar genes
  2. Descent from a common ancestor
• Vestigial Structures are organs that are reduced in size that they are nonfunctioning remnants of similar organs in other species.
• Vestigial structure show:

  1. an organism's evolutionary past
  2. a common ancestor with species that have similar structures that are still functioning
• Comparison of similarities in embryos can show:

  1. relationship to a common ancestor
• Observable events changes in species that has been observed and studied.
• Observable events show that evolution is an ongoing process
• Perter and Rosemary Grant's study of beak size shift in Darwin's Finches
• H. Kettlewell's Study of Peppered Moth Color Shifts
• Gregor Mendel was born on 1822 in Moravia now part of Czech Republic
• Gregor Mendel was son of a tenant former; joined a monastery to get an education.
• He is deeply interested in science, particularly heredity.
• At the monastery in Brno, Moravia, Mendel received the support of Abbot Napp.
• From 1851-1855, he studies at the University of Vienna, but did not receive a degree.
• What was understood at the time:

  1. Heredity appeared random and unpredictable.
  2. Many traits seemed to blend in the offspring, suggesting a liquid factor controlled heredity.
  3. Yet some traits, such as red hair, did not blend anyway.
• With Abbot Napp's encouragement, Mendel studied heredity in peas carefully choosing traits that did not appear to blend. Collected from 1856-1865.
• Mendel's creative contribution was the first to follow single traits from generation to generation instead of trying to document and follow every traits in the plants.
• IN 1868, Mendel became abbot of his monastery/
• Gregor Mendel religious work left little time for research, which he set aside, though he was always convinced he has made a valuable contribution to science.
• Mendel died in 1884.
• Sixteen years later, in 1900, Mendel and his work were rediscovered by Hugo de Vries and others looking for clues into the puzzle of heredity.
• Scientific Law is an evidence-based description of a natural phenomenon in a given set of circumstances.
• Mendel's Laws of Heredity describe what Mendel observed in patterns of inherited traits.