Download Evolution Study Guide – Part I If natural selection is to take place

Evolution Study Guide – Part I
1. If natural selection is to take place, there must be variations in a population.
2. The proportion of each allele in a gene pool is allele frequency.
3. Speciation is the formation of a new species.
4. Rivers, mountain ranges, or oceans can cause geographic isolation of
populations.
5. All of the individuals of the same species in a given area form a population.
6. The success of an organism in passing on its genes is a definition of fitness.
7. A random change in the frequency of a gene is called genetic drift.
8. New species usually form only when populations are isolated.
9. A new species will have a good chance of surviving if it occupies an empty niche.
10. Evolution is a long, slow process of change over time.
11. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock.
12. Mutations such as polyploidy and crossing over provide the genetic basis for
evolution.
13. Structures that have similar origin and structure but are adapted for different
purposes, such as a bat wing and a human arm, are called homologous
structures.
14. Natural selection can best be defined as the survival of the organisms that are
genetically best adapted to the environment.
15. Studies of fossils provide evidence of evolution.
16. A vestigial structure is an organ that is reduced in size and function.
17. Related species have similar RNA and DNA sequences in their cells.
18. Lamarck believed that acquired characteristics could be passed on from parent
to offspring.
19. Darwin developed his theory of natural selection to explain the large variety of
living things.
20. All the genes in a population make up a gene pool.
21. The following conditions, and others, are required if natural selection is to take
place:
a. More offspring of a species are produced than can survive
b. Variations exist in populations, some of which are more of an advantage
than others
22. Evolution does not occur unless something upsets a population’s genetic
equilibrium.
23. Migration is the movement of genes into and out of a gene pool.
Evolution Study Guide – Part II
1. Stabilizing selection is the type of selection that favors average individuals in a
population.
2. The allele frequency is the percentage of a particular allele in a population.
3. The alteration of allelic frequencies by chance is known as genetic drift.
4. The total number of genes present in a population is the gene pool.
5. A variety of structural adaptations, called mimicry, provides protection for an
organism by copying the appearance of another species.
6. A structural adaptation enabling an organism to blend in with its environment is
camouflage.
7. Artificial selection is a technique in which the breeder selects particular traits.
8. The evolution of an ancestral species into an array of species that occupy
different niches is called adaptive radiation.
9. Any structure that is reduced in function in a living organism but may have been
used in an ancestor is known as a vestigial structure.
10. The concept that evolution occurs over long periods of stability that are
interrupted by geologically brief periods of change is known as punctuated
equilibrium.
11. Natural selection is a mechanism for change in a population in which organisms
with favorable variations live, reproduce, and pass on their favorable traits.
12. Any species with a multiple set of chromosomes is known as polyploid.