Evolution Final Exam – Comprehensive Study Guide & Revision Notes
Define biological evolution - ANS ✔✔any change in the inherited traits of a population that
occurs from one generation to the next
describe the different types of evidence that support the hypothesis that whales evolved from
terrestrial vertebrates - ANS ✔✔lungs, placenta, live birth, drink milk produced by mothers,
three middle ear bones, hair (in developing embryo)
synapomorphies
what are the closest living terrestrial relatives of whales? how do we know this? - ANS
✔✔artiodactyls and hippos; in 1990s scientists began comparing DNA and found that whales
and hippos share a more recent common ancestor with each other than with other species of
land mammals
why do mutations occur? are they always beneficial? what types of effects do they have when
they occur in virus genomes? - ANS ✔✔mutations occur because the cellular machinery that
replicates DNA is not perfect and occasionally makes errors
mutations may be harmful or beneficial
viruses may be less likely to be recognized by the immune system or more effective at viral
replication within the host, leads to higher reproduction, dominates the population in
subsequent generations
how can evolutionary biology help us understand and control a viral outbreak (pandemic)? -
ANS ✔✔evolutionary biology can help us understand the genetic sequence of a virus to know
where a virus originates, how long vaccines with provide protection, how public health policies
are best utilized, when a pandemic will end, and how we can prevent future pandemics
natural selection - ANS ✔✔a mechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby differential
survival and reproduction of individuals cause some genetic types to replace others
,what is the difference between proximate and ultimate causation? provide examples of each -
ANS ✔✔proximate explanations focus on a mechanistic understanding of how something
happened; male sticklebacks show aggression towards red belly (sign stimulus) of intruding
male
ultimate explanations focus on historical perspectives of how something came to be; male
sticklebacks chase away others to decrease the chance eggs in his nesting territory will be
fertilized by another male
describe the hypothetico-deductive method. explain the potential outcomes - ANS ✔✔scientific
inquiry proceeds by formulating a hypothesis that can be falsifiable, using a test on observable
data where the outcome is not yet known; reject hypothesis, modify hypothesis, provisionally
accept hypothesis
define the terms hypothesis, fact, and theory (as used by scientists) - ANS ✔✔hypothesis:
informed conjecture or statement of what might be true
fact: hypothesis that has acquired so much supporting evidence that we act as if it is true
scientific theory: a comprehensive, coherent body of interconnected statements, based on
reasoning and evidence, that explain some aspect of nature
what is the difference between how scientists use the word theory and how it is used in
everyday language? - ANS ✔✔a scientific theory has been proven
in everyday language, a theory refers to something that is more like a scientific hypothesis, and
has not been proven but is only an idea
carolus linnaeus - ANS ✔✔father of modern taxonomy; organized living things into a nested
hierarchy of taxa
nicolas steno - ANS ✔✔recognized that fossils were once living things; stratigraphy
,george cuvier - ANS ✔✔compared elephant fossils to skeletons of living elephants from African
and India which helped establish that many fossils were remains of extinct species
mary anning - ANS ✔✔discovered several species of extinct marine mammals
james hutton - ANS ✔✔realized that rocks formed through imperceptibly slow changes;
observable processes produce small changes that accumulate over time; earth must be old
william smith - ANS ✔✔noticed that different rock layers contain distinct fossils
george buffon - ANS ✔✔proposed that earth had formed according to the laws of physics over
more than 70,000 years; each species had a supply of organic particles
jean-baptiste lamarck - ANS ✔✔believed traits acquired in a lifetime were passed to offspring
and that simple organisms always evolved to more complex organisms
charles darwin - ANS ✔✔unofficial naturalist on HMS Beagle, published Origin of the Species,
first to propose a correct mechanism for how life changed over time; descent with modification,
natural selection
alfred russel wallace - ANS ✔✔had similar ideas to charles darwin about evolution and natural
selection;
charles lyell - ANS ✔✔earth's landscapes had been created by many small changes, not gigantic
catastrophes
what is the Great Chain of Being? why did scientists stop using it to categorize the natural
world? - ANS ✔✔origin in ancient Greek philosophy; species are arranged on a scale from lower
to higher forms, fixed hierarchy, not very detailed; in the 1600s naturalists began to develop
systematic ways to classify, name, and sort species
, compare and contrast Darwin's and Lamarck's hypotheses about evolution - ANS ✔✔Darwin:
species share traits because they evolved from a common ancestor, some inherited traits get
passed to offspring more frequently than others
Lamarck: traits acquired during a lifetime could be passed to offspring, simple organisms always
evolve into more complex organisms
what are the two major evolutionary hypotheses that Darwin proposed in The Origin of
Species? why are they now considered scientific facts? - ANS ✔✔1. organisms have descended
with modification from common ancestors
2. the chief cause of modification is natural selection acting on hereditary variation
new discoveries have added to proof of Darwin's theories
what role did the discovery of the fossil record play in the development of the concept of
evolution? - ANS ✔✔provided evidence that life changed, fossils resemble, but are not exactly
the same as modern species, many are extinct
define uniformitarianism. how did this concept influence Darwin's thinking about evolution? -
ANS ✔✔earth's landscapes have been shaped by the cumulative action of gradual processes
observable today; he believed that the fossil record was made over long periods of time
was Darwin the first naturalist to recognize that life evolved? What other concepts were
proposed to explain how life on earth changes? why do we favor Darwin's explanation - ANS
✔✔no; alfred russel wallace had similar ideas, lamarck believed that traits acquired during a
lifetime could be passed on to offspring and that simple organisms always evolved into more
complex organisms; he was the first to propose a correct mechanism for change that has been
proven many times since
explain how Darwin's observations of nature (facts 1-5) lead to the inferences (1-3) he
developed regarding natural selection - ANS ✔✔Facts:
1. high birth rates predict exponential population growth
Define biological evolution - ANS ✔✔any change in the inherited traits of a population that
occurs from one generation to the next
describe the different types of evidence that support the hypothesis that whales evolved from
terrestrial vertebrates - ANS ✔✔lungs, placenta, live birth, drink milk produced by mothers,
three middle ear bones, hair (in developing embryo)
synapomorphies
what are the closest living terrestrial relatives of whales? how do we know this? - ANS
✔✔artiodactyls and hippos; in 1990s scientists began comparing DNA and found that whales
and hippos share a more recent common ancestor with each other than with other species of
land mammals
why do mutations occur? are they always beneficial? what types of effects do they have when
they occur in virus genomes? - ANS ✔✔mutations occur because the cellular machinery that
replicates DNA is not perfect and occasionally makes errors
mutations may be harmful or beneficial
viruses may be less likely to be recognized by the immune system or more effective at viral
replication within the host, leads to higher reproduction, dominates the population in
subsequent generations
how can evolutionary biology help us understand and control a viral outbreak (pandemic)? -
ANS ✔✔evolutionary biology can help us understand the genetic sequence of a virus to know
where a virus originates, how long vaccines with provide protection, how public health policies
are best utilized, when a pandemic will end, and how we can prevent future pandemics
natural selection - ANS ✔✔a mechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby differential
survival and reproduction of individuals cause some genetic types to replace others
,what is the difference between proximate and ultimate causation? provide examples of each -
ANS ✔✔proximate explanations focus on a mechanistic understanding of how something
happened; male sticklebacks show aggression towards red belly (sign stimulus) of intruding
male
ultimate explanations focus on historical perspectives of how something came to be; male
sticklebacks chase away others to decrease the chance eggs in his nesting territory will be
fertilized by another male
describe the hypothetico-deductive method. explain the potential outcomes - ANS ✔✔scientific
inquiry proceeds by formulating a hypothesis that can be falsifiable, using a test on observable
data where the outcome is not yet known; reject hypothesis, modify hypothesis, provisionally
accept hypothesis
define the terms hypothesis, fact, and theory (as used by scientists) - ANS ✔✔hypothesis:
informed conjecture or statement of what might be true
fact: hypothesis that has acquired so much supporting evidence that we act as if it is true
scientific theory: a comprehensive, coherent body of interconnected statements, based on
reasoning and evidence, that explain some aspect of nature
what is the difference between how scientists use the word theory and how it is used in
everyday language? - ANS ✔✔a scientific theory has been proven
in everyday language, a theory refers to something that is more like a scientific hypothesis, and
has not been proven but is only an idea
carolus linnaeus - ANS ✔✔father of modern taxonomy; organized living things into a nested
hierarchy of taxa
nicolas steno - ANS ✔✔recognized that fossils were once living things; stratigraphy
,george cuvier - ANS ✔✔compared elephant fossils to skeletons of living elephants from African
and India which helped establish that many fossils were remains of extinct species
mary anning - ANS ✔✔discovered several species of extinct marine mammals
james hutton - ANS ✔✔realized that rocks formed through imperceptibly slow changes;
observable processes produce small changes that accumulate over time; earth must be old
william smith - ANS ✔✔noticed that different rock layers contain distinct fossils
george buffon - ANS ✔✔proposed that earth had formed according to the laws of physics over
more than 70,000 years; each species had a supply of organic particles
jean-baptiste lamarck - ANS ✔✔believed traits acquired in a lifetime were passed to offspring
and that simple organisms always evolved to more complex organisms
charles darwin - ANS ✔✔unofficial naturalist on HMS Beagle, published Origin of the Species,
first to propose a correct mechanism for how life changed over time; descent with modification,
natural selection
alfred russel wallace - ANS ✔✔had similar ideas to charles darwin about evolution and natural
selection;
charles lyell - ANS ✔✔earth's landscapes had been created by many small changes, not gigantic
catastrophes
what is the Great Chain of Being? why did scientists stop using it to categorize the natural
world? - ANS ✔✔origin in ancient Greek philosophy; species are arranged on a scale from lower
to higher forms, fixed hierarchy, not very detailed; in the 1600s naturalists began to develop
systematic ways to classify, name, and sort species
, compare and contrast Darwin's and Lamarck's hypotheses about evolution - ANS ✔✔Darwin:
species share traits because they evolved from a common ancestor, some inherited traits get
passed to offspring more frequently than others
Lamarck: traits acquired during a lifetime could be passed to offspring, simple organisms always
evolve into more complex organisms
what are the two major evolutionary hypotheses that Darwin proposed in The Origin of
Species? why are they now considered scientific facts? - ANS ✔✔1. organisms have descended
with modification from common ancestors
2. the chief cause of modification is natural selection acting on hereditary variation
new discoveries have added to proof of Darwin's theories
what role did the discovery of the fossil record play in the development of the concept of
evolution? - ANS ✔✔provided evidence that life changed, fossils resemble, but are not exactly
the same as modern species, many are extinct
define uniformitarianism. how did this concept influence Darwin's thinking about evolution? -
ANS ✔✔earth's landscapes have been shaped by the cumulative action of gradual processes
observable today; he believed that the fossil record was made over long periods of time
was Darwin the first naturalist to recognize that life evolved? What other concepts were
proposed to explain how life on earth changes? why do we favor Darwin's explanation - ANS
✔✔no; alfred russel wallace had similar ideas, lamarck believed that traits acquired during a
lifetime could be passed on to offspring and that simple organisms always evolved into more
complex organisms; he was the first to propose a correct mechanism for change that has been
proven many times since
explain how Darwin's observations of nature (facts 1-5) lead to the inferences (1-3) he
developed regarding natural selection - ANS ✔✔Facts:
1. high birth rates predict exponential population growth
