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Chapter 16 Assessment

Terms in this set (29)

Who observed variations in the characteristics of plants and animals on different islands of the Galapagos?
Charles Darwin
In addition to observing living organisms, Darwin studied the preserved remains of ancient organisms called
fossils
What pattern of variation did Darwin observe among rheas, ostriches, and emus?
That different, yet ecologically similar, animal species inhabited separated, but ecologically similar habitats around the globe.
What connection did Darwin make between the Galapagos tortoises and their environments?
That each island had a different climate and the tortoises adapted to each of them.
Evolution meaning.
Change over time
Why was Darwin's trip aboard the Beagle so important to his development of the theory of natural selection?
He realized animals adapt & change overtime.
Why was Darwin puzzled by the fact that there were no rabbits in Australia?
He saw fossils that resembled the bones of living sloths but were much larger in size. He wondered what had happened to the ancient, giant ground sloths.
What idea was proposed by Lamarck but was later found to be incorrect?
Living things change over time.
What would an animal breeder use to increase the number of cows that give the most milk?
artificial selection
What accounts for the presence of marine fossils on mountaintops?
Rocks that had been once beneath the sea could be pushed up into the mountains.
According to Malthus, what factors limit population growth?
Space and food.
What is artificial selection?
Selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring.
An inherited characteristic that increases an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its specific environment is called
Adaptation
How well an organism survives and reproduces in its environment can be described as its
fitness
How does natural variation affect evolution?
Variation is necessary if some organisms are to have greater fitness than others and to have a greater chance of passing on their traits to the next generation.
Explain the following statement: "Descent with modification explains the diversity of life we see today."
Without it we wouldn't see all the breeds of animals we see today.
Describe the conditions necessary for natural selection to occur.
Occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth
How would Darwin explain the long legs of the water bird?
By natural selection: in giraffes, variations within a population in neck length, those with longer necks were able to reach food and survive to pass on their longer necks.
What's the difference between fitness and adaptation?
Fitness is how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment. Adaptation is the heritable characteristics that increases an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.
How does the process of natural selection account for the diversity of organisms that Darwin observed on the Galapagos Islands?
All the animals adapted to their environments so they could survive and reproduce.
Many species of birds build nests in which they lay eggs and raise the newly hatched birds. How might nest-building behavior be an adaptation that ensures reproductive fitness.
The birds build the nests with their surroundings to create a safe place for the eggs.
Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissue are called
homologous
Intermediate fossil forms are important evidence of evolution because they show
how organisms changed over time.
How does the geographic distribution of organisms support the theory of evolution?
Comparing the fossils to the animals we have now we can see how they evolved over the years.
How do vestigial structures indicate that present-day organisms are different from their ancient ancestors.
The structures may once have functioned in the ancestors of the organism
How do DNA and RNA provide evidence for common descent?
All living cells use information coded in DNA and RNA and is passed through generations
How did Lyell's Principles of Geology influence Darwin?
It helped Darwin appreciate the significance of an earthquake he witnessed in South America.
A sunflower produces many seeds. Will all the seeds grow into mature plants?
No because some plants might die before the fully grow.
Explain why Lamarck made a significant contribution to science even though his explanation of evolution was wrong.
He thought organisms change as a result of their environment. He was wrong about passing on acquired characteristics.
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