Final Review

• Carolus Linneaus: What are they known for?


  Classification of life into taxonomic hierarchy
• Robert Hooke: What are they known for?


  Idea that bodies are natural machines
• Gorges Buffon: What are they known for?



  Proponent of evolution before Darwin
• Gorges Cuvier: What are they known for?


  Father of paleontology, didn't believe in evolution
• Baptiste-Lamark: What are they known for?


  Adaptation occurs through the inheritance of acquired characteristics
• Thomas Malthus: What are they known for?

  Populations, poor compete for resources, populations occur faster than our food grows
• Alfred Russel Wallace: What are they known for?


  patterned life after darwin. Evolution believer
• R.A. Fisher: What are they known for?


  Proved Quantitative traits can be inherited if several genes are involved
• Sewall Wright: What are they known for?


  Genetic Drift
• JBS Haldane: What are they known for?


  incorporating selection into Wright's models of genetic drift
• Theodosius Dobzhansky: What are they known for?


  merged Mendel's laws of inheritance with Darwin's theory of natural selection
• Motoo Kimura: What are they known for?


  Neutral theory of molecular evolution
• What is evolution?

  Change in allele or trait frequencies from one generation to the next.
• Why is evolution a science?

  It’s supported by evidence, it is a testable hypothesis, a predictive power, and relatively consistent.
• What are the two supported theories of evolution?

  Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by natural selection

  Lamarck’s Theory of Inheritance of acquired characteristic.
• What does natural selection do?

  acts on existing variation, gradually shaping populations and leading to the emergence of new species.
• How can we reconstruct evolutionary histories using fossils, phenotypes, and DNA?

  Fossils offer a direct glimpse into extinct creatures, helping place them on the evolutionary timeline.

  Phenotypes of living organisms show inherited traits, hinting at how species might be related.

  DNA analysis reveals the closest genetic matches, providing the strongest evidence of evolutionary connections.
• What is the role of randomness in evolution?


  Mutations are the raw material for evolution and is random, can be + neutral or -

  Genetic drift is relatively random and influences which genes get passed.
• What are quantitative traits?

  Traits are influenced by many genes and the environment.
• How can Mendelianly- inherited genes be used to explain quantitative traits?

  Genes identified by Mendelian studies might be part of the genes contributing to quantitative traits.
• How would you go about identifying quantitative trait loci?


  QTL analysis, breeding organisms with extreme versions of the trait, tracking their genes in offspring, and look for correlations between genes and the trait.
• Explain a study about natural selection and how it supports evolutionary theory

  Brown mice on white background die from predators more than white mice on white backgrounds
• What is the evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity?

  Allows organisms to adjust to environmental swings so they survive until genes catch up and avoid wasting resources on unnecessary traits.
• What are the necessary ingredients for adaptation to occur?


  Variation, heritability, differential fitness, and selective pressures
• Describe how adaptive traits arise and evolve

  Variation. Heritability, differential fitness, selective pressures, generations surviving passing on those genes allowing them to become commoner.
• What are the evolutionary advantages and disadvantages of sexual reproduction?


  Advantages: Genetic Variation and Red Queen Hypothesis to defend against parasites.

  Disadvantages: Finding a mate takes time, energy, and resources. Half the Offspring isnt related to you.
• Why are life history traits affected by strong selection?

  It acts like a filter by favoring life history traits that maximize and organisms fitness.
• What evolutionary pressures affect life history traits?

  Resource availability, predation risk, competition, and environmental variability
• I commonly hear people say “we didn’t come from monkeys”.  Where did humans come from?  How did we evolve?

  Modern humans emerged in Africa and migrated out, we evolved from various hominins leading up to the homo sapiens, possible interbreeding between homo sapiens and other hominins.
• Describe macro evolution

  Large-scale change that leads to new species or higher taxonomic groups over much longer periods, builds on microevolution.
• What does macroevolution involve?

  Speciation

  Accumulation of changes
• Describe micro evolution

  Focuses on small-scale changes within a population over a relatively short period. Raw material for Macroevolution.
• What does micro evolution involve?

  Genetic Variation

  Natural Selection
• How might a coevolutionary relationship develop between two species?

  As one species changes, it exerts pressure on the other, leading to a continuous cycle of adaptation and counter-adaptation.
• What are the evolutionary pressures that drive sociality?

  Predation defense, Enhanced foraging, cooperative breeding, division of labor, aiding kin. Challenges includes competition for resources and disease spread.
• Do populations evolve based upon group or individual selection? Why?

  Typically works on individuals because traits are inherited by individuals.