Download Week 1-2

Biology 156
Evolutionary Ecology
19 Jan 2001
Bob Podolsky
Week 1-2. Review of basic concepts
Study guide
After module 1, a review of basic concepts, you should be able to:
Lectures 1.1, 2.1
1) State four postulates of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (TENS)
2) Explain for each postulate how a failure to satisfy the postulate would falsify the
hypothesis of evolution by natural selection
3) Create a biological scenario using Bumpus’ data that would be consistent with an
episode of evolution by natural selection, and then give an alternative scenario that
would be inconsistent
4) Describe the further evidence that would be needed to distinguish between these
alternative hypotheses
5) Describe how the Grants showed that characteristics associated with bill dimensions
and body size would likely be passed from parent to offspring
6) Explain a circumstance that would undermine the idea that traits are passed from
parent to offspring
7) Describe the relationship between bird traits and food availability that the Grants used
to claim that changes in bird traits were due to selection rather than drift
8) Explain five problems of using Bumpus’ data to claim that evolution by natural
selection had occurred
9) Explain why all measured characteristics of the average finch increased in size some
years, but decreased other years
10) Define the term “performance,” and explain how the Grants used performance data to
establish causality in evolutionary change
11) Define "adaptation" and explain why the Grants considered bill dimensions to be
“adaptations” that evolved in response to environmental conditions
12) Explain why certain finch characteristics might illustrate an evolutionary “trade-off”
13) Explain why a genetic correlation between traits can lead to a “constraint” on the
evolution of those traits
14) For a hypothetical example of a genetic correlation between traits, explain why
natural selection might occur without evolution of a trait, and why evolution of a trait
could occur without natural selection on that trait