Download NAME: :______ Per:______

NAME:_________________________________________________Date:__________ Per:___________
HES: CHAPTER 5 STUDY GUIDE: EVOLUTION AND BIODIVERSITY: Origins, Niches, and Adaptation
Review Sheet
Format:
55 Points
45 Multiple Choice
10 Matching
Part One: Vocabulary: In the space below, define ten of the terms from the chapter that you are the
least familiar with.
Part Two: Questions for Review
1. What are 3 conditions on Earth that make it a suitable place to live?
One way flow of energy, cycling of matter, gravity.
2. Scientists have hypothesized that life of Earth developed in 2 phases. What are they?
Chemical evolution- formation of Earth’s crust & atmosphere, formation of biomolecules & protocells
Biological evolution- change in genetic makeup of a population leading to new species
3. Differentiate between micro and macroevolution.
Microevolution- small genetic changes that occur in a population
Macroevolution- long-term, large-scale evolutionary changes through which new species are formed
from ancestral species and other species are lost through extinction
4. What influenced Darwin’s Theory of Evolution (list at least 2 things)?
Changes in Earth’s geology & observations made on his voyage.
5. According to Darwin, individuals that tend to survive have what characteristics?
Characteristics that allowed them to survive and have high reproductive success.
6. What is an adaptation?
A heritable trait that enables an organism to better survive and reproduce under a given set of
environmental conditions
7. What did Darwin call an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce?
Fitness
8. Darwin’s observation that finches of different species on the Galapagos Islands have many similar
characteristics supports the hypothesis that?
Organisms evolved from a common ancestor.
9. What did Miller and Urey produce in their experiment?
Organic molecules from inorganic compounds.
10. What atmospheric gases were found on Earth prior to the emergence of life?
N2, NH3, H2, H2O
11. What is a fossil and list several examples?
Mineralized or petrified replicas of skeletons, bones, teeth, shells, leaves, and seeds, or impressions of
such items provide physical evidence of organisms.
Examples: dinosaur bones, impressions made by leaves
12. What body parts are similar in structure but different in function? Provide an example.
Homologous structures, Ex: Humans, penguins, alligators, bats all have the same bones in their arms but
they are used for different things.
13. What body parts are different in structure but similar in function? Provide an example.
Analogous structures, Ex: wings of birds and bees
14. What are vestigial organs?
Structures that are so reduced in size of function that they are merely traces of similar organs in other
species (I.e. tailbone and appendix in humans)
15. Name the process by which individuals of a population acquire genetically based traits that
increase their chances of survival and their ability to produce offspring.
Natural selection
16. What 3 conditions are necessary for natural selection?
1. Variability – phenotypic differences in a trait
2. Heritability – trait must have a genetic basis to evolve
3. Differential Reproductive Success – phenotypic traits determine individual survival and success
17. Name the process by which humans select one or more desirable genetic traits in the population of
a plant or animal.
Artificial selection
18. Describe the formation of two species from one species due to divergent natural selection.
It occurs when environmental conditions favor individuals at both extremes of the genetic spectrum. It
reduces or eliminates the number of individuals with normal or intermediate forms of the trait.
19. Name the type of isolation in which groups of the same species become physically separated.
Geographic isolation
20. Name the type of isolation in which isolated populations become so genetically different they
cannot interbreed or produce live, fertile offspring.
Reproductive isolation
21. What occurs when the population cannot adapt to changing environmental conditions?
Extinction
22. What is the process in which numerous new species evolve to fill vacant and new ecological niches
in changed environments?
Adaptive radiation
23. Changes in the gene pool of one species can lead to changes the gene pool of another species.
What is this process called?
Co-evolution
24. What is the full potential range of the physical, chemical, and biological factors a species can use if
there were no direct competition from other species?
Fundamental niche
25. What term is used for species with a narrow ecological niche?
Specialist species
26. Differentiate between specialists and generalists species. Give examples of each.
•
•
Generalist species
– Species with a broad ecological niche.
• Live in many different places.
• Eat a variety of food.
• Tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions.
(flies, mice, deer, catfish, humans)
Specialist species
– Species with a narrow ecological niche.
• Live only in one type of habitat
• Use only a few types of food
• Tolerate only a narrow range of climatic and other environmental conditions.
(tiger salamander, red-cockaded woodpecker, spotted owls, pandas)
27. What are small genetic changes that occur in a population?
Mutations
28. Define and provide an example of coevolution.
Populations of two different species interacting over a long period of time. Changes in the gene pool of
one species can lead to changes the gene pool of another species.
Ex: salamanders & snakes
29. How can microevolution occur?
Exposure to mutagens and mistakes during DNA replication
30. What limits natural selection?
The size of a population’s gene pool and how quickly it can reproduce.
31. Differentiate between a fundamental and a realized niche.
•
Fundamental niche
– Full potential range of the physical, chemical, and biological factors a species can use if
there were no direct competition from other species.
•
Realized niche
– Part of a species fundamental niche that are actually used.
32. Differentiate between a natural extinction and a mass extinction.
•
•
Natural extinction
– Normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environmental conditions
Mass extinction
– extinction resulting from catastrophic, wide-spread event in which large groups of existing
species are wiped out
33. How are humans affecting biodiversity?
Human activities are decreasing the Earth’s biodiversity.
34. How does speciation and extinction affect biodiversity?
Speciation – extinction = biodiversity
35. What are the two misconceptions about evolution?
•
•
Misconception 1: survival of the fittest does not mean survival of the strongest – it is referring to
REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS
Misconception 2: Evolution involves some grand plan of nature in which species become
progressively more perfect
– Organisms do not develop certain traits because they need them.
– There is no such thing as genetic perfection.