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Unit 8- Evolution Test Review
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Define evolution Change over time in a species; process by which modern species descended from ancient
organisms
What is spontaneous generation (abiogenesis)? The hypothesis that life comes from nonliving things (it has been
proven incorrect)
What is biogenesis? The idea that life comes from other life
Describe the experiments of Pasteur and Redi and how they proved spontaneous generation incorrect.
Pasteur boiled broth in S-shaped flasks, showed they didn’t produce living things, then broke the neck
off and bacteria grew. Redi put meat in a glass cover to show that the flies didn’t come from the meat,
but from eggs that were laid on it
What is artificial selection? Process of humans selecting and breeding organisms with specific, useful traits
How did Miller and Urey test the Chemical Evolution hypothesis and what was their result? They replicated
the Earth’s ancient atmosphere in a lab, added electricity to simulate lightning and sunlight; this
experiment made several amino acids and organic compounds needed for life, proving that they could
have developed on their own
Describe the 1st cells (autotroph or heterotroph; prokaryote or eukaryote; aerobic or anaerobic)? Very simple cells
that were heterotrophic, prokaryotic and anaerobic.
Describe the early Earth. Why wouldn’t there be liquid oceans at first? What was in the atmosphere? What wasn’t?
The early Earth was very hot and harsh. At first there were no liquid oceans because the Earth was too hot
and all water was boiled into vapor. The atmosphere had many poisonous gases but no free oxygen.
What is the Endosymbiotic Theory? What does it have to do with chloroplasts and mitochondria? The
Endosymbiotic Theory states that the first eukaryotes developed from symbiotic relationships between simple
bacteria. It further hypothesizes that modern chloroplasts and mitochondria descend from ancient bacteria.
What are the 4 evidences of evolution given in your notes? Fossil evidence, comparative anatomy
(compare body parts), comparative embryology (how embryos develop for different species) and
comparative biochemistry (look at similarities in protein and DNA)
What is the difference between a homologous structure and a vestigial structure? Homologous structurestructures in different organisms that descended from the same original structure and develop from
the same embryonic tissue (human arm and whale flipper have same types of bones but they are
differently shaped); Vestigial structure- structure ‘left over’ from evolution from ancestors, such as the
human tail bone or tiny hip bones in snakes
What is comparative embryology? Comparing the appearance and development of embryos from different
species to determine how related they might be. The more similar development of the embryos are, the most
closely related the species.
What is comparative biochemistry? Determining how closely related species are by examining similarities in
their DNA and protein sequences. Because of random mutations, more closely related species will have more
similar DNA and therefore proteins. Common examples of genes and proteins looked at are insulin, rRNA
sequences, mitochondrial DNA and hox genes.
What kind of rocks are fossils found in? Sedimentary rocks
Explain relative dating of fossils Determining the age of fossils by comparing them with fossils in various rock
layers. Older rocks and fossils are lower, newer fossils are toward the top.
Explain radioactive dating Determining age of a fossil based on the amounts of radioactive element present
(such as C-14)
What is a half life? The amount of time it takes half of the radioactive material to decay.
What was Lamarck’s (incorrect) theory called and what did it say? Acquired Characteristics. It said that
organisms with a desire to change could use or disuse certain body parts to improve or lose the part, then that
change would be passed down. His ideas were incorrect.
What was Darwin’s theory called and what were its four points? It was called Natural Selection and the four main
points were: 1. Variation in a species 2. Competition for resources 3. Overreproduction 4. Best adapted
organisms will live and pass on their traits to the next generation.
What were the Galapagos Islands and what did Darwin study there? What was the name of the book he eventually
published? Small group of islands off the coast of South America. Darwin found many diverse species that he
studied there, which helped kick start his research. Eventually Darwin published his ideas on Natural
Selection, called “On the Origin of Species”
Is the peppered moth an example of Darwin’s theory or Lamarck’s? How so? It is an example of Darwin’s theory,
Natural Selection, because there was variation in the moth population, they were competing for survival, the
less adapted moths were eaten and so the population changed.
Where does variation come from in a species? Mutations (mutations in gametes are the only ones passed down)
and shuffling of genes during sexual reproduction.
What caused the change in the peppered moths from being mostly light colored to mostly dark colored? At first the
trees were lightly colored and the light color moths were best camouflaged, then after pollution changed the
trees, many of the light ones were eaten, leaving mostly dark colored moths.
24. What is adaptive radiation? When one species branches into many different forms that eventually develop into
new species occupying different niches.
25. What is convergent evolution? When unrelated species develop similar forms because they are under the same
selection pressures.
26. Compare gradualism vs punctuated equilibrium In gradualism, the change is very slow and constant. In
punctuated equilibrium, the species changes very little for a long period of time, then suddenly changes in a
short period of time.
27. Define speciation The process of a species being separated into different populations, leading to the formation
of different species.
28. What are the three ways the species are isolated? Behavior isolation, geographical isolation and temporal
isolation.