Anthro 7 Midterm

Front 1

Cladistic Taxonomy

Back 1

System for classifying organism in which patterns of descent are the only criteria used

Front 2

Evolutionary Taxonomy

Back 2

System for classifying organisms which uses both patterns of descent and patterns of overall similarity for classification

Front 3

Evolutionary Convergence

Back 3

The evolution of similar characteristics in unrelated species (e.g camera type eyes in both vertebrates and mollusks)

Front 4

Evolutionary Homology

Back 4

Similarity of traits due to common ancestor (gorillas and baboons both being quadrupedal due to common quadrupedal ancestor)

Front 5

Frugivore

Back 5

Eat fruit, smaller than folivores

Front 6

Folivores

Back 6

Eat leaves, large body size, special adaptations (large body size, low activity levels, shearing molars, gut microbes, dietary selectivity

Front 7

Insectivores

Back 7

Eat insects, generally smaller than frugivores

Front 8

Gumnivores

Back 8

Eat gum- important source of carbohydrates

Front 9

Biological Altruism

Back 9

Tendency of some organisms to behave in ways that benefit other creatures at a cost to themselves

Front 10

Group Selection/Theory

Back 10

To avoid overexploitation of resources, organisms restrain their reproduction for the good of the group/population

Front 11

Hamilton's Rule

Back 11

Altruism pays off when rb>c

Front 12

Reciprocal Altrusim

Back 12

The theory that altruism can evolve if pairs of individuals take turns giving and receiving altruism over the course of many encounters

Front 13

Parental Investment

Back 13

Any investment in time, risk or energy by a parent in an offspring that reduces the investment available for other offspring

Front 14

Sexual Selection

Back 14

For of selection that results from differential mating success in one gender. Selection for traits that enable individuals to require more or better mates.

Front 15

Theories

Back 15

Give us the power to deduce hypotheses about a wide range of phenomena, tell us what to look for, pose puzzles, suggest their solutions and serve as guides to discovery.

Front 16

Hypotheses

Back 16

Proposed causal relationship between two or more variables, can be deduced from theory, based off of previously accumulated data, or based solely on intuition.

Front 17

Assumptions

Back 17

A statement accepted as true without evidence

Front 18

Data

Back 18

Answers to questions, obtained when you measure something systematically

Front 19

Inferences

Back 19

Conclusions drawn from evidence

Front 20

Darwin's Postulate #1

Back 20

The ability of a population to reproduce is infinite but the ability of the environment to support the population is finite.

Front 21

Darwin's Postulate #2

Back 21

Organisms within a population vary, and this variation affects their ability to survive and reproduce.

Front 22

Darwin's Postulate #3

Back 22

Variation is transmitted from parent to offspring.

Front 23

Lamarckian Genetics

Back 23

Idea that an organism can pass down characteristics it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring.

Front 24

List Constraints on Adaptations

Back 24

Correlated Characteristics, Disequilibrium, Genetic Drift, Local v. Optimal, Other constraints (physics, chemistry)

Front 25

Correlated Characteristics

Back 25

When individuals have particular varients of one character and also tend to have particular variants of another character, the characters are said to be correlated.

Front 26

Disequilibrium

Back 26

Populations being observed may not have reached equilibrium. Selection produces optimal adaptations only at equilibrium.

Front 27

Genetic Drift

Back 27

When populations are small, this may cause random changes in gene frequency. Causes isolated populations to become genetically different from each other

Front 28

Local v. Optimal

Back 28

Natural selection may lead to an evolutionary phenotype in which at which the most common phenotype is not necessarily the best.

Front 29

Allopatric Speciation

Back 29

Speciation that occurs when two or more populations of a single species are geographically isolated from each other and then diverge to form two or more new species.

Front 30

Natural Selection

Back 30

process by which favorable variations among individuals within a particular environment are passed from one generation to the next.