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25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are Fossils?
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traces of organisms that existed in the past.
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What is the theory of catastrophism?
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states that natural disaster such as floods and volcanic eruptions have happened often during Earth's long history.
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What is the principle of gradualism?
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States that landforms resulted from slow changes over time.
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What is the theory of uniformitarianism?
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States that geologic processes that shaped earth are uniform through time.
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What is variation?
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The difference in the physical traits of an imndiviual form those of other individuals in the group to which it belongs.
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What is adaptation?
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A feature that allows an organism to better survive in its enviroment.
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What is the variation among member of DIFFERENT species called?
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Interspecific
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What is the variation among member of the SAME species called?
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intraspecific
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What lead Darwin to believe that the Earth was much older the 6000 years due to fossil organisms?
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The fossils were specific evidence of species changing over time.
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How did Darwin apply insights of geological changes to the evolution of organisms?
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Geologic changes can effect changes in species over a long period of time.
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What is aritficial selection?
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The process by which humans change a species by breeding it for certain traits.
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What is heritability?
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The ability of a trait to be passed down form one generation to the next.
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What is natural selection?
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A mechanism by which individuals have inherited beneficial adaptations, produce more offspring on average than do other individuals.
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What is population?
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All the individuals of a species that live in an area.
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What is fitness?
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A measure of the ability to survive and produce more offspring relative to other members of the population in a given enviroment.
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Why did artificial selection interest Darwin?
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Animals in captivity have a lot more diversity than animals in the wild. A lot more diversity can be produced in captivity.
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In natural selection, what must be ttrue of the traits that are passed down through generations?
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They have to help the animal to survive.
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What is biogeography?
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The study of the distribution of organisms around the world.
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What are homologous structures?
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Features that are similar in a structure but appear different in different organisms and have different functions. (human hand vs. bat wing)
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What are analogous structures?
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Structures that perform a similar function but are NOT similar in origin. (Bat wing vs. insect wing)
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What are vestigial structures?
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Remnants of organs or structures that HAD a function in an early ancestor. ( Pelvic bones in snakes, appendix in humans, wings of ostriches0
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What is paleontology?
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The study of fossils or extinct organisms, continues to proviede new information and support current hypotheses.
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Why is the fossil record not complete?
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Most living things don't form fossils when they die.
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What are transitional species?
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one example is a whale like body with limbs of land animals.
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How does paleontology contribute to evolutionary biology?
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Shows similar bone structure and other aspects that could help find a common ancestor.
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