Origins of Life
This hypothesis suggests that life came to Earth from outer space.
What is exogenesis?
These are remnants of organs or structures that had a function in an early ancestor.
What are vestigial organs?
This branch of biology deals with the classification and naming of organisms.
What is systematics?
He proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Who is Charles Darwin?
Different structures but the same function
What are analogous structures?
These scientists' experiment simulated early Earth conditions to demonstrate that organic compounds could be created from inorganic ones.
Who are Miller and Urey?
This term describes changes in species over short periods and is generally accepted in the scientific community.
What is microevolution?
This diagram shows the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species.
What is a phylogenetic tree?
He developed the binomial nomenclature and is known as the father of modern taxonomy.
Who is Carolus Linnaeus?
Structures that are similar in construction but have different functions are called
What are homologous structures
This hypothesis suggests that RNA molecules could have been the precursor to all current life on Earth.
What is the RNA world hypothesis?
This term describes large-scale evolutionary changes that take place over long periods of time.
What is macroevolution?
This principle states that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
What is parsimony?
He is known for his experiments with jars that disproved the idea of spontaneous generation.
Who is Francesco Redi?
These are categories in a cladogram
What are order, family, genus, and species?
This hypothesis proposes that life exists throughout the Universe and is distributed by space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids, or potentially by spacecraft.
What is panspermia?
This theory argues that complex natural structures have been designed and are not the result of chance.
What is Intelligent Design?
Another name for the process of phylogenetic analysis.
What is cladistics?
He drew embellished pictures that compared the embryonic development of lizards, chicks, rabbits, and humans to show the different stages of evolutionary history.
Who is Ernst Haeckel?
This term was used to describe the belief in the unchanging nature of species, an idea that has since been disproven.
What is the fixity of species?
This theory argues that life's complexity is evidence of a purposeful design made by an intelligent being.
What is Intelligent Design?
These creatures, which live in dark environments like caves, often have non-functional eyes.
What are blind salamanders?
These are the three broadest categories into which all forms of life are classified.
What are the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya?
He is known for his pioneering work in microbiology and his experiments that supported the germ theory of disease.
Who is Louis Pasteur?
What famous philosopher and clergyman used this thought experiment to prove that humans came from an intelligent creator:
If you were walking in the woods and found a watch on the ground, where would you assume it came from?
Who is William Paley?