Leader: Kirsten Karkow
Course: Biol 211 - Wilsey
Date: 3/21/2012
Worksheet 20
Supplemental Instruction
Iowa State University
Define the following terms:
Evolution – descent with modification, change in gene frequencies over time that leads to
change in populations over time. (Happens at the population level, NOT at an individual level.)
Microevolution – changes in gene frequencies over time.
Macroevolution – formation of new species over time. Happens via natural selection.
Natural Selection – process by which individuals with certain inherited traits leave more
offspring than others. (Ex. – skin tone, but have gotten around it with modern technology.)
Adaptation – characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction in a specific environment.
Fitness – relative ability to survive and reproduce.
What are these men responsible for?
Linnaeus – developed the binomial nomenclature system (→ “Linnaean Hierarchy”)
Lamarck – discovered evolution, proposed inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Malthus – economist, did many studies on human populations
Cuvier – paleontologist who studied fossils (and thus changes in fossil layers)
Lyell – observed that geological change occurs slowly but continuously
Darwin – published The Origin of Species, which supports evolution through natural selection
Wallace – co-developed the theory of natural selection
What are the five points in Darwin’s concept of natural selection?
1. There is variation among individuals in a population.
2. Traits are inherited from parents to offspring.
3. The number of individuals that survive/reproduce is small relative to the number of
offspring they produce.
4. Many offspring do not survive.
5. Individuals with inherited characteristics that best match the environment leave more
offspring.
State some evidence that supports evolution.
Biogeography, human selection, comparative anatomy, molecular biology, etc.
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