Evolution Need to Know List
1.
Evolution – the process by which modern organisms changed over time from ancient common
ancestors.
2. A variation is the difference in the physical traits of an individual from those of other
individuals in the group to which it belongs.
3. An adaptation is a feature that allows an organism to survive better in its environment.
4. Charles Darwin is credited with the idea of natural selection.
a. In the Galapagos Islands, Darwin studied finches, tortoises, fossils, and geography.
5. In artificial selection, humans breed certain organisms to make a trait appear in the
offspring.
6. In natural selection, the animals that are best suited to an environment survive and are
more likely to pass their traits on to their offspring. In addition, those organisms will
produce more offspring, on average, than other less suited individuals.
7. The individuals of a species that live in a certain area are called a population.
8. Parameters of Evolution by Natural Selection
1. Struggle for existence
a.
Competition
2. Variation and adaptation
b. Adaptation
3. Survival of the fittest
c.
Fitness
9. Common descent – all species (living and extinct) descended from a common ancestor.
10. Patterns of Evolution
Divergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Coevolution
11. Evidence for Evolution:
1. Geographic Distribution of Species
2. Fossils
3. Anatomy
homologous structure
4. Physiology
analogous structure
vestigial
5. Embryology
6. Universal Genetic Code
7. Biochemical Homology
12. Allele Frequencies
13. Population
14. Gene Pool
15. Mutations are the main source of genetic variations in populations
16. Types of Selection in Populations
Directional
Stabilizing
Disruptive
17. Other Sources of Change in Allele Frequencies
Genetic Drift
Genetic Bottleneck
Founder Effect
18. Speciation- evolution/formation of a new species
19. Isolating Mechanisms of Species
Reproductive Isolation
Behavioral Isolation
Ecological/Habitat Isolation
Mechanical Isolation
Gametic Isolation
Temporal Isolation
Geographic Isolation
20. Rates of Speciation
Gradualism
Punctuated Equilibrium