Early Study of Evolution
Explain adaptation and variation. What are their similarities and differences?
adaptation: an inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment. Variation: a difference in traits/characteristics among individuals of the same species.
They both have to do with traits/characteristics of an organism but variations happen within a population while adaptation happens to all.
What is natural selection and artificial selection?
NS: a process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species.
AS: only individuals with a desired trait (color) are bred by humans in hope that the next generation will inherit.
What sort of information can you get from a body fossil that you cant get from a trace fossil?
body fossils can show the actual shape and structure of an organism.
What did Carolus Linnaeus do?
developed the first scientific system for classifying and naming living things.
Describe microevolution and macroevolution. What is the difference between the 2? Give an example of each.
micro: small change through a short time in an organism.
macro: a major evolutional change sometimes make a whole new species.
What is a scientific theory? How did Darwins ideas become a scientific theory?
scientific theory: A well tested explanation for a wide range of observations and experimental results. From evidence he collected and discoveries from other scientists, he was able to conclude that organisms on the Galapagos island had changes over time or evolved.
What are the factors that affect natural selection? Give a description of each.
Overproduction: most species produce more offspring than can survive
Variation: members of a population with different characteristics
Competition: that struggle among living things to get the right amount of resources.
What is a fossil? Explain the different types of fossils and give an example of each.
The impression that an organism or part of an organism leaves in a rock. Body : preserve that shape and structure of an organism.EX: bones, shell, bug in amber, teeth
Trace: a trace left behind by an organism. EX: Footprints, nests, animal droppings
What were Charles Darwin's discoveries on the Galapagos Islands?
He compared finches from the mainland to the Galapagos island and noticed they had similarities but they were different species because the different species would not mate with each other.
What are the factors that cause extinction? Explain why.
New predators, climate change, decease and competition
What did Charles Darwin notice about the finches on the Galapagos Island?
Noticed they had different beaks for eating different foods, due to the environmental change that caused their resources to be limited/or unavailable.
Explain how environmental changes can affect an organisms ability to survive. Give an example.
Organisms must adapt to the environment to survive and reproduce. If they cant, they will not survive and become extinct.
How do fossils form and how do you know which ones are older or younger?
living things die and sediment buries them. The oldest ones are lower and the younger ones are closer to the top.
Explain how Mary Anning contributed to evolution.
What are homologous structures? Give examples of 3 organisms with homologous structures.
similar structures that related species have inherited from a common ancestor.
What animal did Charles Darwin study on the Galapagos island, and what did he conclude about them.
Finches and there was a new species that evolved on the island but were all related to a common ancestor
Explain what a mutation is and give an example.
any changes to the genetic material. A flower growing inside another flower.
What is the fossil record? How does the fossil record help support evidence for the scientific study of evolution?
fossil record: all the fossils that have been discovered and what we have learned from them. This helps support the scientific study of evolution because of the patterns scientist have studied showing all the organisms from the past to now.
What did Charles Lyell do?
He studdies naturally formed layers of rocks and fossils. He concluded that the features of Earth had changed a great deal over time. He set the stage for a theory of gradual evolution over long periods of time
How do you account for the differences between a bats wing and a dolphins flipper?
through natural selection, the homologous structures in the different species were adapted for different environments
What is the Theory of Evolution?
the process by which organisms have descended from ancient organisms through adaptation and natural selection.
How does the genetic variation of traits within a population affect its probability to survive? Explain.
the greater the diversity/variations within a population the greater chances they have of survival. If a decease hits a population with no variation, and no member of the population can resist it, then the population will all die.
How do organisms react to rapid climate change?
the try to adapt, ones that do not adapt will not survive and the ones that survive will evolve to line in that new environment
What ideas did Jean-Baptiste Lamarck contribute to the study of evolution?
He suggested that evolution takes place by small, gradual steps.
He proposed that simple organisms could develop over many generations into more complex ones.
Why is a sudden change in the environment more likely to cause a species to go extinct rather than to cause a new species to develop?
a sudden change in environmental conditions may not lease enough time for a species to adapt genetically because multiple generations would nee to be born in order to develop the necessary trait for survival. barring a mutation that turned out to be beneficial, the species would die out