Download Evolution and Classification Unit Vocabulary

Evolution and Classification Vocabulary
Charles Darwin
 British naturalist who observed the diversity of life on
his five-year maritime journey (1850’s) on the Beagle
where he formulated his theory of evolution by means
of natural selection.
Natural Selection
 Evolutionary mechanism where the members of a
population that rare most suited (adapted) to their
environment will most likely survive and reproduce.
Jean Lamarck
 French biologist who proposed that evolution occurred
because animals had an “inner need” to change and
that acquired characteristics were passed to offspring.
 His theory of use and disuse was true, but the passing of
acquired characteristics to offspring was not supported
by evolutionary evidence.
Evidence for Evolution
 Fossils
 Homologies
 Vestigial Structures
 Molecular Comparisons (Example: DNA)
 Similar Embryonic Development
Adaptations
 Characteristics that increase the chance that an
organism will survive and reproduce in a certain
environment.
Homologies
 Structural similarities that indicate a common
evolutionary ancestry
 Useful in classification
 Examples: bird wing, whale flipper, human arm
Vestigial Structures
 Structures with no apparent function but whose
presence may indicate a common evolutionary origin
with organisms having similar functional structures.
Adaptive Radiation
 The evolution of many species from a common ancestor
introduced into an environment that has a diversity of
conditions.
 Also called divergent evolution.
 Examples: Darwin’s finches, marsupials in Australia
Taxonomy
 The science of the classification of organisms.
 Also called systematic
Carl Linnaeus
 Swedish biologist (1700’s) who devised “binomial
nomenclature”, the scientific naming system that is still
used today.
Binomial Nomenclature
 The naming system (devised by Linnaeus) where every
organism is assigned a two word Latin name.
 The first word is the genus name.
 The second word is a descriptive modifier.
 Example: honey bee – Apis mellifera
Homo sapiens
 The genus and species that all human beings belong to.
 The scientific name of human beings.
Phylogeny
 The evolutionary relationship among a group of
organisms.
 Pattern of descent.
Classification
 The seven levels to which all living things are organized.
o Kingdom
o Phylum
o Class
o Order
o Family
o Genus
o Species
Kingdoms
 Five kingdoms into which all living things are organized.
o Monera
o protista
o Fungi
o Plantae
o Animalia
Monera
 Composed of prokaryotic cells.
 Three major types include
o Archaebacteria
o Bacteria
o Cyanobacteria (formerly called Blue-green algae)
Protista
 Composed of eukaryotic cells.
 Three major groups include
o Protozoa
o Algae
o Slime molds
Animalia
 Composed of eukaryotic organisms.
 Nine phyla include
o Porifera
o Cnidaria (Coelenterates)
o Platyhelminthes
o Nematoda
o Annelida
o Mollusca
o Arthropoda
o Echinodermata
o Chordata
Plantae
 Composed of eukaryotic organism.
 Four phyla include
o Nonvascular plants: Bryophyta – mosses, liverworts
o Vascular seedless plants: Pterophyta – ferns
o Vascular seed plants: Gymnosperms, coniferophyta,
conifers
o Flowering plants: Anthophyta, angiosperms