Biochemical Evidence
What type of macromolecule comparison can reveal evolutionary relationships?
Proteins and DNA sequences.
What is the study of similar structures in different organisms called?
Comparative anatomy.
What embryonic features do fish, birds, and mammals share?
Pharyngeal gill slits
What is biogeography?
The study of the geographical distribution of organisms.
What does the fossil record provide?
Evidence of past life and transitions between species.
How do amino acid sequences support evolutionary theory?
Similarities in sequences imply common ancestry.
What are homologous structures?
Structures in different species that share a common ancestor.
Why is comparative embryology important?
It helps trace evolutionary relationships among species.
What does the theory of continental drift explain in terms of evolution?
How species evolved in isolation on different continents.
What is relative dating in fossils?
Determining the age of fossils based on their position in layers of rock.
What is DNA-DNA hybridization used for in evolutionary biology?
To determine how closely related different species are.
Give an example of an analogous structure.
The wings of birds and insects.
What does it suggest if early embryos of different species show similar features?
They likely share a common ancestor.
Name one example that illustrates biogeographical evidence of evolution.
The Galápagos finches.
What can transitional fossils indicate?
They show how organisms evolved over time.
What common protein is frequently analysed to study evolutionary relationships?
Cytochrome c.
What can skeletal similarities indicate about two species?
They may share a common ancestor.
How did Ernst Haeckel contribute to evolutionary biology with embryo drawings?
He proposed similarities as evidence of common ancestry.
How does isolation play a role in speciation?
Isolated populations can evolve into new species.
Give an example of a well-known transitional fossil.
Archaeopteryx.
What technology advances have improved biochemical analysis in evolution?
DNA sequencing and bioinformatics.
What is the pentadactyl limb and why is it significant?
It's a five-digit limb structure found in many vertebrates, indicating common ancestry.
What technology is used today to study embryonic development more accurately?
Modern imaging techniques.
What is Wallace's line and its significance?
A boundary separating species distribution between Asia and Australia, highlighting evolutionary processes.
How do fossils help explain the process of evolution?
They provide a historical record of changes in species over time.