Evolution
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What is the definition of evolution?
A change in gene frequency in a population over time
What is the definition of trait?
A heritable characteristic
What is the definition of adaptation?
A HERITABLE characteristic that increases an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce, thus passing on their genes. They can be physical or behavioral characteristics.
If an environment changes…(in relation to the species inhabiting it)
The species changes too through natural selection
What is industrial melanism?
When, through natural selection, a species’ population has a lot more of a darker color than lighter ones because a factory is established in the area.
What is natural selection?
One of the processes that drives evolution Organisms that have adaptive traits are more successful in their environment and reproduce more They pass on those traits to their offspring This ends up in more organisms with the adaptive trait than organisms without
What is the definition of fitness?
An individual’s ability to survive and reproduce, thus passing on their genes. An organism with high fitness will probably survive a long time and have lots of babies(a lot of which survive to adulthood).
What is the definition of a selective pressure?
A phenomenon that alters the fitness of an organism.
What is an example of a selective pressure?
Predation
What is the definition of camouflage?
The use of color, pattern, and shape to make oneself hard to see.
What happens to an animal’s fitness when it has a good mutation?
Increased fitness
What happens to an animal’s fitness when it has a bad mutation?
Decreased fitness
What happens to an animal’s fitness when it has a neutral(no effect) mutation?
The fitness is not really affected
How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics(in accordance with natural selection)?
When an antibiotic enters your system, it changes the bacteria’s environment and becomes the bacteria’s selective pressure. The bacteria with mutations to resist the antibiotics have better fitness and have more offspring than the bacteria that doesn’t. Natural selection “selects” the bacteria with the resistance the the antibiotics, leading the remaining bacteria to have developed a resistance to the antibiotics.
In scientific terms, what is a theory?
An idea that explains several phenomena at once.
How do homologous structures support the theory of evolution?
Homologous structures show that, through the similar traits we have, that we came from a common ancestor. The idea that we came from one organism proves evolution, because organisms with homologous structures are different. If we came from one organism but ended up so different, that must mean that we evolved to be so.
How does biogeography support the theory of evolution?
We found different species that were isolated from each other, but shared similar traits. This can only mean they share a common ancestor, but are different, so they must have evolved to be so.
How does direct observation support the theory of evolution?
We sometimes see evolution with our own eyes, which is pretty concrete evidence that it exists. For example, sometimes we relocate some of a population to a different environment, and then we come back years later and the population we relocated is different from the main population. This could only happen with evolution.
How do fossils support the theory of evolution?
Fossils show the change over time in species literally. For example, we find a fossil, and then we find another one with similar traits but is different, and then we find another one with similar traits but is different too, literally showing the process of evolution as we see change over time in a species.
What is the definition of a fossil?
The preserved remains, impression, or trace of an organism from a past geological age.
What are the 3 types of fossils?
Permineralization Impressions Traces
What is permineralization?
When an organism’s become rock. It’s a type of fossil
What are impressions?
When an organism’s body presses into a soft surface and leaves and impression in the ground. It’s a type of fossil
What are traces?
Evidence that something was there, like a burrow or tracks. It’s a type of fossil