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21 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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What causes the landscape on earth to change? |
The continental drift (movement), for e.g. it causes mountains when continents collide, and this in turn changes the environment for living beings. |
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How is the weather in the middle of a (super)continent? |
DRY! There must have been vast deserts in the middle of Pangea, Gondwanda etc. |
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What type of rocks are of interest when studying fossils, why? |
Sedimentary, these can be made of skeletons and/or shells of sea creatures. The layers of sedimentary rocks can be dated, they give the stratigraphic column. |
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Give an example of how evolution and geology are closely linked! |
Orogenic rain leads to denudation, gives nutrients/minerals to the earth, which leads to tree and plant diversity |
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What is The International Chronostratigraphic Chart? |
The major reference when talking about evolution and fossils. It's counted in Ma = mega annum (million years), a large time scale. The geological time scale is the world's and life's calendar. |
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WHAT CAN A FOSSIL TELL? 1. Which info should you record and how? 2. How could this info be used in biodiversity & evolutionary research? 3. Why? |
1. Age of sediment, location (lat, long), traits (shape, thickness etc.), enviroment (past & present), morpology/structure, position. Note everything down and take a picture (or imprint). 2. Imprint (mostly used for animal fossils rather than plants), comparision (age, morphology, position, location). Put findings in a database (digital, makes it available). 3. To see changes in morphology, environment and/or diversity. |
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What is macroevolution? |
Large scale patterns, diversity differences depending on time and location. |
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What are the uses of fossils in macroevolution? |
For: - Molecular dating - Diversification measurements - Biogeographical history - Niche evolution - Clade interactions |
For five different reasons/investigations |
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How can molecular dating be done? |
Through single, fixed calibrations or multiple, complex priors you can set a fixed date or you don't make the decision and instead use it for: tip dating |
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What are the components when investigating diversification? |
Speciation & extinction rate, their interaction. The net diversification rate is extinction rate subrtacted from speciation rate (expected rates used) (r=λ - μ) |
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What is PyRate? |
A software that can give macroevo rates from fossil data (without phylogenies). Can be used for: - preservation: fossilization, sampling, identification etc. - Sp. diversification: speciation & extinction rates |
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Does a fossil record need to be totally complete to give meaningful info? |
No, even with incomplete & low preservation rate we can get useful data that tell us about speciation & extinction rate. |
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How can fossils be useful for biogeography? |
They can show us different biogeographical regions and be used for biogeographical reconstructions. |
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Why can fossils give us info of niche evo? Give an example. |
Because all organisms has a range of diff environmental preferations - niches. If we have knowledge of organisms niches, the fossils can tell us about the evo of these. e.g. if we calculate Rosaceae's niche and project back in time we can see how the plants has moved = how the niche has moved. |
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What trait of plants correlate with temperature, what can this then tell us? |
The leaf margin, this can then tell us about the environment |
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How do clades interact? |
In several different ways, there are dynamics: clade competition on both speciation and extinction. Studies on (canid) fossils can show (and have shown) that some interactions has occured, others have not. |
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Are phylogenies always our best options when studying history? |
No not always, sometimes phylogenies are not very useful since they lead us to making the wrong assumptions, for e.g. according to phylogenetic inference, the whale ancestor would be similar to todays whales, but fossil studies shows the opposite. |
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What are the essential components to understand biodiversity and macroevo? |
The fossil AND the molecualr records |
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Why is it hard to pinpoint timing of events in the history of life? |
It's such a huge timespan! All geological events has taken millions of years. We don't have all the data from previous timeperiods, we only see glimpses of the past with fossils and geological formations. |
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Life's history is a mixture of ... what? |
Biological & geological mechanisms/factors |
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What is included in the term diversification? |
Increase of number of species Variety of forms Variety of ecological habitats |
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