UW Bio 180 Exam 1 Questions & Answers Already Graded A+

Organism - A living entity made up of one or more cells Theory - An explanation for a very general class of phenomena or observations Cell Theory - All organisms are made of cells and all cells come from preexisting cells Null Hypothesis - Specifies what we should observe when the hypothesis being tested isn't correct Control Group - A group that checks for other factors which are not being tested Two components of scientific theories - Pattern and process Population - Individuals of the same species that are living in the same area at the same time Descent with modification - Evolution Pattern component of Evolution - 1) Species change through time 2) Species are related through common ancestry Fossil Record - All fossils that have been found and described in the scientific literature Extant Species - Living species Extinct Species - No longer existing speciesTransitional Feature - A trait in a fossil species that is intermediate between those of older and younger species Vestigial Trait - A reduced or incompletely developed structure that has no function or reduced function but is clearly similar to functioning organs or structures in closely related species Phylogeny - A family tree of populations or species Homology - Similarity that exists in species because they both inherited the trait from a common ancestor Genetic Homology - Similarity having to do with similar DNA structuring Developmental Homology - Similarity in the embryonic stage Structural Homology - Similarity in adult morphology (form) Darwin's Four Postulates - 1) Individuals vary in the traits they posses 2) Some trait differences are heritable 3) More offspring are produced than can possibly survive in one generation 4) The individuals who survive best and produce the most offspring is not a random subset of the population Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (in two parts) - 1) Heritable variation leads to... 2) Differential reproductive success Biological Fitness - The ability of an individual to produce surviving offspring, relative to that ability in other individuals in the population Adaptation - A trait that increases the fitness of an individual in a particular environmentSpeciation - A population of one species splits into two different species because of natural selection Tree of Life - A family tree or organisms Genetics - The branch of biology that focuses on the inheritance of traits Heredity - Transmission of traits from parent to offspring Trait - Any characteristic of an individual Model Organism - A species that is used for research because it is practical and because conclusions drawn from studying it turn out to apply to many other sp