Describe the process of speciation. Include the factors that may contribute to the maintenance of genetic isolation
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1) Describe the theory of evolution and discuss how it is supported by evidence from two of the following areas.
a. population genetics
b. molecular biology
c. comparative anatomy and embryology
2) Describe the process of speciation. Include the factors that may contribute to the maintenance of genetic isolation
3) Explain the meaning of the statement “natural selection is not evolution”
Darwinian View of Life
Evolution is the change over time. He also called it descent with modification.
Natural selection is the survival of the fittest where only the strong survive.
Gradualism is the theory that profound change is the cumulative product of slow change.
Uniformitarianism is the theory that geological processes have not changed throughout Earth’s history.
Darwinian Revolution
Darwin’s main research was centered on the Galapagos Islands and the many species of finches.
Discovered a new species could arise from an ancestral form by the gradual accumulation of adaptations to a different environment.
Darwin thought life was like a tree with multiple branching and rebranching from a common trunk. At each fork is an ancestor common to all lines of evolution branching from that fork.
Natural Selection and Adaptation
Production of more individuals than space leads to a struggle for existence. Only a fraction of offspring survive.
Natural selection is the unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce. It occurs through interaction between the environment and the variability inherent among individuals. The product is the adaptation of populations to the environment
Artificial selection is when the animals are forced to breed with the most fit individuals
Natural selection and evolution occur over long periods of time
Variations by chance are mutation and genetic recombination.
Evidence of Evolution
Biogeography is the geological distribution of species. Certain species are only found in certain places
Darwinian views predict that evolutionary transitions should show in the fossil record.
Comparative anatomy: Homology is similarity in characteristics resulting from common ancestry.
Comparative embryology: Closely related organisms go through similar stage in their embryonic development.
Molecular biology: Evolutionary relationships among species reflect in their DNA and proteins.