Download Evolution (CHANGE OVER TIME!!!) Study Guide Adaptation: Any

Evolution (CHANGE OVER TIME!!!) Study Guide
Adaptation: Any trait or characteristic that gives the organism an advantage or benefit for
survival or reproduction
What are the two requirements that a population must meet to be considered a species?
1. Must be ABLE to mate and reproduce
2. Must be able to produce FERTILE offspring
Fossil: any imprint or preserved specimen in rock, lava, ash, or other impressionable materialgood for seeing changes in organisms over time
Give 4 examples of evidence that support that organisms can change over long periods of time:
1. Fossils
2. Similarities in early development of different organisms
3. Similarities in bone structure and body structure
4. Similarities in DNA and protein sequences
Explain how comparing skeletal structures of living organisms can give us a clue about their
ancestry:
Even though different organisms would use their appendages for different purposes (example,
human arm, bat wing, bird wing, dog leg) the basic skeletal structure of those appendages are
still very similar. For example, there is still a large bone in the upper portion, two bones that
help the appendage rotate, and then smaller bones where the tip of the wing, hand, or foot of
the dog would rest. These can indicate that we all may have had a common ancestor at one point
in time to have similar skeletal structures.
Charles Darwin sailed around the world for ____5_____ years.
He was considered a _____naturalist on the HMS _____Beagle________________.
What was the chain of islands that REALLY got Darwin thinking?
_____Galapagos Islands___ off the coast of ______South America__________.
What about the finches intrigued Darwin?
The finches had different coloration that let them blend in to different environments. The
different beaks that the birds had made certain birds better suited for different types of
food. He also noticed that the birds were very similar to birds he had seen on the mainland of
South America. All of these things led to his development of the theory of natural selection
that allows species to change over time.
You run a pet store and your competitor has more colorful birds than you do! You’re losing a lot
of business. Explain how you might use selective breeding to help expand the bird business.
Selective breeding is humans’ way of influencing how a certain species may change over time.
We have seen this in the development of all domesticated species- dogs, cats, corn, wheat, soy
beans, etc. If you were interested in having more colorful birds in your pet store, you might
want to selectively breed the most colorful birds together so you could have a roost of young
colorful chicks to sell to customers.
Darwin finally published On the Origin of Species in 1859. He discussed the concept of natural
selection. Explain the parts of natural selection:
Overproduction: The more opportunities you have to do something, the more likely you are to do
it. The more offspring a species can make, the more chances they have that at least some of
the offspring will live and reproduce and pass the genes on to the next generation.
Inherited Variation: Genes influence the variation that we see in the world. The variation has to
be there otherwise organisms wouldn’t be more or less suited to their environment and natural
selection would have nothing to “select” for. The variation allows for some organisms to have
advantages.
Competition: Organisms have to compete for resources like food, water, living space, mates, etc.
Those individuals that are best suited to their environment will most likely out-compete the
rest of the organisms and pass their genes on to the next generation.
Successful Reproduction: Organisms have to successfully reproduce or there are no offspring
to have variation, overproduction, or competition in the first place!
Explain what genetics have to do with evolution: EVERYTHING!!! The genes that an organism
passes on to its offspring is what determines whether or not that organism is fit for its
environment. If it is well suited to its environment it will probably live and keep passing on those
genes, if it isn’t well suited then it either won’t survive and won’t reproduce or won’t reproduce
as much.
According to what scientists believe based on the evidence they have right now, name a species
that is now extinct that is distantly related to humans: (hint: Think cranium activity)
Australopithecus is probably an ancient cousin of Homo sapiens (humans)
Explain what Lamarck thought about inheritance of acquired traits: Lamarck believed that
acquired traits could actually be passed down to the next generation. So if you you’re your hair,
you children might actually have that color hair when they were born. If a giraffe stretched its
neck really far then it could be passed down to its offspring. This is NOT really how things
work, but in a time when people did not believe that any change happened ever, he opened the
door to exploring how organisms could change over time.
What is a scientific theory? A scientific theory is a well tested, well supported explanation of
phenomena observed in the natural world.
Variation: Any difference in traits or characteristics among organisms of the same species.