CLADOGRAMS
What is a cladogram
A cladogram is a diagram showing the evolutionary relationship of organisms based on traits or characteristics
What is another name for artificial selection?
Selective Breeding.
What is a fossil?
Fossils are the geologically altered remains of a once-living organism and/or its behavior.
When do we compare the embryos of organisms to find evolutionary relationships?
We compare them in the first few weeks of life as an embryo.
How does the Law of Superposition help us to identify fossils?
The Law of Superposition states that the farther down in layer the fossil is found, the older the fossil is. The closer to the surface in rock strata, the younger the organism. This helps us to find a relative age of a fossil by comparing other fossils in a specific layer of rock.
What is the name of the organism group that shares the least characteristics?
The outgroup
What is artificial selection?
Artificial selection is the process by which humans choose individual organisms with certain phenotypic trait values for breeding.
Explain what a fossil record is.
The fossil record is a collection of fossils documenting the history of life on Earth. These fossils can teach us about an extinct organism's size, shape, and/or behavior. Extinct means that all members of a species or another grouping of organisms have died off.
What structures on the embryo are investigated to show common ancestor links? Name a minimum of four.
The structures include:
tailbone,
limb buds,
notochord
pharyngeal slits
The modern-day whale has bones that seem to show limbs. Explain this.
The modern-day whale is believed to have been a land animal early in its history. It would have used the limb bones to walk on land before it became a water-loving organism and moved to the seas.
At what point do organisms show a common ancestor?
The node.
Name and explain one example of artificial selection including why the trait would have been selected.
Possible answers:
Designer Dogs
Tomatoes to withstand cold temperatures
Large Corn Kernels
Etc.
Name all of the types of fossils and briefly explain.
Cast (& explanations)
Mold (& explanations)
Trace (& explanations)
Whole Organism (& explanations)
Carbon Film (& explanations)
What are the three structure types in comparative anatomy? Name and briefly explain them.
Homologous Structures-structures that show a common ancestor by similar design but a different function. Analogous Structures-structures that do not show a common ancestor. They're similar in function (ie: flying) but not in their anatomy. Vestigial Structures-structures that organisms retain but seem to have no current function in that organism.
What can trace fossils tell us?
Trace fossils can tell us information about the behavior of an organism, where it lived and its environment when it was a living creature.
Name the parts of a cladogram.
The root, the nodes, the clades and the branches.
Does artificial selection occur in one generation?
It may take several generations to select for the trait that is desired.
Name and explain one example of artificial selection including why the trait would have been selected.
Possible answers:
Designer Dogs
Tomatoes to withstand cold temperatures
Large corn kernels
Etc.
Using a cat as your example, explain how its embryology and anatomy are similar to a human. Does this point to them having a common ancestor?
A cat and human embryo develop in a similar fashion in the first weeks of life. They share a notochord, limb buds, pharyngeal slits, and a tail.
Their anatomy is also similar because they have homologous structures that point to a common ancestor including a humerus bone, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges. The structures are homologous without a similar function but identical structures.
This points to a cat and human as having a common ancestor.
If two organisms share a common ancestor, what will their DNA be like?
The organism will have very similar DNA if they share a close common ancestor.
What is the purpose of a cladogram?
It is a prediction of how organisms are related to each other through evolutionary standards
*It is a hypothesis only
Is artificial selection related to genetics? Why or why not?
Artificial selection is related to genetics because humans select for the phenotype but the genotype is how the trait is inherited in the next generation.
How do fossils form? Describe the steps in fossil formation.
An organism typically dies near or in a watery area
Sediment quickly covers the organism
Over time sediment continues to cover and compact the organism
Minerals replace bony areas and become rock
The sedimentary rock is eroded to show a fossil
Name the bones that are compared when looking for a common ancestor.
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpals
Phalanges
What type of evidence is DNA evidence for biological evolution?
What type of diagram is built around this knowledge?
It is the strongest type of evidence for biological evolution.
A phylogenetic tree uses DNA evidence to show the evolutionary relationship of organisms. It is no longer a hypothesis but uses the strongest evidence.