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Biology Chapter 17

Terms in this set (34)

genetic change in a line of descent through successive generations
evolution
practices yield evidence that heritable changes do occur (artificial selection)
selective breeding
widely used to interpret the past and present, and to predict the future
reveal connections between the geological record, fossil record, and organism diversity
evolutionary theories
all aspects of nature can be traced to their underlying causes
hippocrates theory
each organism is unique from all the rest and nature is a continuum of organization
aristotle's theory
diversity and distribution of organisms
biogeography
similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species
comparative anatomy
- formation of rocks/soil
- certain layers contain fossils
- some fossils seem to be related to known species
geological discoveries
subtle, repetitive processes of change, had shaped the earth
lyell's principles of geology ; the theory of unifromity
as the ship's naturalist, he collected and examined the species that inhabited the regions of the ship visited (galapagos islands)
darwin's voyage
darwin observed finches ; he discovered __ new species
13
a population can change over time when individuals differ in one or more heritable traits that are responsible for differences in the ability to survive and reproduce
darwin's theory
argued that as population size increases, resources dwindle, the struggle to live
thomas malthus
- a difference in the survival and reproductive success of different phenotypes
natural selection
arrived at the same conclusions as darwin did
alfred wallace
recognizable evidence of ancient life
fossils
what do fossils tell us?
- each species is a mosaic of ancestral and novel traits
- all species that ever evolved are related to one another by way of descent
fossils are found in sedimentary rock
stratification
- organism becomes buried in ash or sediments
- organic remains become infused with metal and mineral ions
fossilization
boundaries based on transitions in fossil record
geological time scale
idea that the continents were once joined and have since "drifted" apart
continental drift
wegener refined the hypothesis and named the theoretical supercontinent
PANGEA
- earth's crust is fractured in plates
- movement of plates driven by upwelling of molten rock
plate tectonics
- comparing body forms and structures of major lineages
compartive morphology
guiding principle of comparative morphology
when it comes to introducing change in morphology, evolution tends to follow the path of least resistance
- change from body form of common ancestor
morphological divergence
morphological divergence produces
homologous structures
- individuals of different lineages evolve in similar ways under similar environmental pressures
morphological convergence
morphological convergence produces
analogous structures that serve similar functions
- each animal or plant proceeds through a series of changes in form
- similarities in these stages may be clues to evolutionary relationships
comparative development
- some mutations shift a step in a way that natural selection favors
altering developmental programs
alterations that disrupted early development have been selected against
similar vertebrate embryos
- changes in the onset, rate, or time of completion of development steps can cause allometric changes
- adult forms that retain juvenile features
developmental changes
- kinds and numbers of biochemical traits that species share is a clue to how closely they are related
comparative biochemistry
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