Evolution Unit Summary
Key Concepts
Chapter Summary
Chapter 7 The theory of evolution helps us understand the diversity of life.
 Evolution
 Adaptation
 Lamarck’s inheritance of
acquired characteristics
hypothesis
 Natural selection
 Survival of the fittest
 Evidence for evolution
 Homologous, analogous, and
vestigial structures
 Antibiotic resistance
 The work of 18th- and 19th-century thinkers challenged the notion that
Earth was young and that species did not change over time. (7.1)
 Darwin used the work of Hutton, Lamark, and Malthus to build his theory
of evolution. (7.1)
 Evolution is the change in species over time. Natural selection is the
mechanism behind evolution. (7.2)
 In natural selection, more young are produced than can survive, and
those individuals that have variations that help them survive live to
reproduce and pass down their traits to their offspring. (7.2)
 Evidence for evolution and natural selection comes from the study of
fossils, geographic distribution of species, comparative anatomy,
comparative development, artificial selection, and molecular biology.
(7.2)
 Genetics disproves Lamarck’s hypothesis of inheritance of acquired
characteristics and supports Darwin’s theory of natural selection. (7.2)
 Natural selection can explain the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (7.2)
Chapter 8 The mechanisms of evolution can lead to speciation or extinction.
 Microevolution
 Directional, disruptive, and
stabilizing selection
 Artificial selection and sexual
selection
 Genetic drift and gene flow
 Macroevolution and
speciation
 Reproductive and postreproductive barriers
 Adaptive radiation and
convergent evolution
 Punctuated equilibrium and
gradualism
 Co-evolution
 Microevolution occurs when allele frequencies in the gene pool change
from generation to generation. (8.1)
 Natural selection, sexual selection, artificial selection, genetic drift, and
gene flow are the mechanisms of microevolution. (8.1)
 Directional, disruptive, and stabilizing selection affect allele frequencies
in a population in different ways. (8.1)
 Macroevolution includes the formation of new species, the extinction of
species, and the rise of major structures such as a backbone. (8.2)
 There are barriers to reproduction that may lead to speciation. (8.2)
 In adaptive radiation, an ancestral species diverges into various species
with different traits as a result of changes in its environment. (8.2)
 In convergent evolution, distantly related species evolve similar traits as
a result of living in similar environments. (8.2)
 Punctuated equilibrium explains the sudden appearance of new species
in the fossil record. (8.2)
 Some human activities can cause extinction, but others can help
preserve the diversity of life. (8.2)
 In co-evolution, one species evolves in response to evolutionary changes
in another species. (8.3)
 Cumulative selection can result in complex features. (8.3)
 Ongoing natural selection can adapt existing structures to perform new
functions. (8.3)
Chapter 9 Evolution has produced Earth’s current biodiversity and influences modern
medicine and agriculture.
 Miller-Urey experiment
 Endosymbiotic theory
 Oxygen’s influence on life
 Phylogeny and cladistics
 Primates, hominoids,
hominids
 Applications of evolution
 Organic molecules, which are the building blocks of life, could have
arisen from simpler molecules found in the environment. (9.1)
 Endosymbiotic theory explains the origins of mitochondria and
chloroplasts in eukaryotes. (9.1)
 Phylogeny and cladistics establish evolutionary relationships among
species. (9.2)
 The human phylogenic tree includes Australopithecus and Homo
species, which were all bipedal. (9.2)
Unit C Vocabulary
Chapter 7
The theory of evolution helps us
understand the diversity of life.
Chapter 8
The mechanisms of evolution can
lead to speciation or extinction.
 adaptation
 analogous
structures
 artificial selection
 descent with
modification
 ecological niche
 fitness
 fossil record
 fossils
 adaptive radiation
 biological species
concept
 co-evolution
 cumulative selection
 directional selection
 disruptive selection
 founder effect
 gene flow
 gene pool
 genetic drift
 gradualism
 heritable
 homologous
structures
 hypothesis
 natural selection
 survival of the fittest
 theory
 variation
 vestigial structures
 Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium
 hybrid
 microevolution
 mimicry
 phenotype
 punctuated
equilibrium
 reproductive isolation
 sexual selection
 speciation
 stabilizing selection
Chapter 9
Evolution has produced Earth’s current biodiversity and influences
modern medicine and agriculture.
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aerobic
bipedalism
chemoautotroph
clade
cladistics
cladogram
continental drift
derived characters
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era
eukaryote
geologic time scale
hominids
hominoids
mass extinction
organic molecule
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period
phylogenetic tree
phylogeny
primary abiogenesis
primates
prokaryote
stromatolite
Unit Review Questions
p 269 # 1, 4-9, 12, 14-15, 17-19, 20-25, 28-31, 32-38, 40-42, 44, 46,52, 54-56, 58-59, 62