BIO112 Spring 2024 Exam 1 Terms Graded A

radiometric dating - general approach used to determine the age of specimens using the rate of decay of radioactive isotopes radiocarbon dating - a chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of the radioisotope carbon-14 potassium-40 dating - radiometric dating method often used in the assessment of volcanic intrusions in sedimentary layers. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar). half-life - length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay punctuated equilibrium - Pattern of evolution in which long stable periods are interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change Cambrian explosion - A burst of evolutionary origins when most of the major body plans of animals appeared in a relatively brief time in geologic history; recorded in the fossil record about 545 to 525 million years ago. macroevolution - Evolutionary change that produces new species microevolution - Evolutionary change/adaptation below the species level; change in the allele frequencies in a population over generations. Linnaeus - Father of taxonomy Lamarck - Proposed theory that organisms pass on traits they acquire in their lifetime. Cuvier - catastrophism: believed that the extinction of species was caused by catastrophic events such as floods Lyell and Hutton - scientists who said the world was old and slowly, but constantly changing Malthus - an English economist and demographer; suggested populations have a potential for increase that exceeds the actual rate of increase, and the resources for the support of increase are limited descent with modification - process by which descendants of ancestral organisms adapt to different/changing habitats and accumulate structural and functional adaptations selective breeding - The process of humans intentionally selecting a few organisms with desired traits to serve as parents of the next generation, over time producing organisms with altered characteristics species - a group of related organisms sharing a distinctive form. If sexually reproducing, individuals can interbreed to produce viable, fertile offspring. vestigial structures - remnant of a structure that may have had an important function in a species' ancestors, but is suggested to have no clear function in the modern species. homology - Similarity in structural, embryological or DNA or RNA sequence characteristics attributed to shared ancestry. anatomical homology - similar body structures among different species attributed to a common ancestor with that feature developmental homology - similarities in the development of embryos between different species that share a common ancestor genetic homology - Similarities in DNA sequences or amino acid sequences that are due to inheritance from a common ancestor. analogy - similar structures that are proposed to have arisen due to similar selective pressures rather than inheritance from a common ancestor with that structure morphological species concept - characterizes a species by body shape and other structural features biological species concept - Definition of a species as a group of populations whose members have the potential to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring, but do not produce viable, fertile offspring with members of other such groups. ecological species concept - A definition of species in terms of ecological niche, the sum of how members of the species interact with the nonliving and living parts of their environment. evolutionary species concept - Defines species according to evolutionary history and common ancestors, distinctive lineages in phylogenetic trees reproductive isolation - Separation of species or populations so that they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring prezygotic reproductive barriers - factors that prevent mating or fertilization between species