Evolution Exam One (Chapters 1–4) – Study Guide & Revision Notes
Biological Evolution - correct answer ✔✔any change in the inherited traits of a population that
occurs from one generation to the next
Lineage - correct answer ✔✔a chain of ancestors and their descendants. A lineage may be the
successive generations of organisms in a single population, the members of an entire species
during an interval of geological time, or a group of related species descending from a common
ancestor
Natural Selection - correct answer ✔✔a mechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby
differential survival or reproduction of individuals causes some genetic types to replace
(outcompete) others
Convergent Evolution - correct answer ✔✔The independent origin of similar traits in separate
lineages
Homologous - correct answer ✔✔Characteristics are similar in two or more species because
they are inherited from a common ancestor
synapomorphy - correct answer ✔✔a derived form of a trait that is shared by a group of related
species (i.e. one that evolved in the immediate common ancestor of the group and was
inherited by all of its descendants)
Phylogeny - correct answer ✔✔A visual representation of the evolutionary history of
populations, genes, or species
Mutation - correct answer ✔✔any change to the genomic sequence of an organism
, Viral reassortment - correct answer ✔✔occurs when genetic material from different strains get
mixed into new combinations within a single species
Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔evolution arising from random changes in the genetic
composition of a population from one generation to the next
Phenotypes - correct answer ✔✔measurable aspects of organisms, such as morphology
(structure), physiology, and behavior. genes interact with other genes and with the environment
during the development of the phenotype
Taxon - correct answer ✔✔a group of organisms that a taxonomist judges to be a taxonomic
unit, such as a species or order.
Taxonomy - correct answer ✔✔the science of describing, naming, and classifying species of
living or fossil organisms
Paleontology - correct answer ✔✔the study of prehistoric life
Extinction - correct answer ✔✔the permanent loss of a population of species, arising with the
death or failure to breed of the last individual
uniformitariansm - correct answer ✔✔the idea that the natural laws observable around us now
are also responsible for events in the past. one part of this view, for example, was the idea that
the earth had been shaped by the cumulative action of gradual processes like sediment deposit
or erosion
Homologous - correct answer ✔✔traits are similar because they are inherited from a common
ancestor
Biological Evolution - correct answer ✔✔any change in the inherited traits of a population that
occurs from one generation to the next
Lineage - correct answer ✔✔a chain of ancestors and their descendants. A lineage may be the
successive generations of organisms in a single population, the members of an entire species
during an interval of geological time, or a group of related species descending from a common
ancestor
Natural Selection - correct answer ✔✔a mechanism that can lead to evolution, whereby
differential survival or reproduction of individuals causes some genetic types to replace
(outcompete) others
Convergent Evolution - correct answer ✔✔The independent origin of similar traits in separate
lineages
Homologous - correct answer ✔✔Characteristics are similar in two or more species because
they are inherited from a common ancestor
synapomorphy - correct answer ✔✔a derived form of a trait that is shared by a group of related
species (i.e. one that evolved in the immediate common ancestor of the group and was
inherited by all of its descendants)
Phylogeny - correct answer ✔✔A visual representation of the evolutionary history of
populations, genes, or species
Mutation - correct answer ✔✔any change to the genomic sequence of an organism
, Viral reassortment - correct answer ✔✔occurs when genetic material from different strains get
mixed into new combinations within a single species
Genetic Drift - correct answer ✔✔evolution arising from random changes in the genetic
composition of a population from one generation to the next
Phenotypes - correct answer ✔✔measurable aspects of organisms, such as morphology
(structure), physiology, and behavior. genes interact with other genes and with the environment
during the development of the phenotype
Taxon - correct answer ✔✔a group of organisms that a taxonomist judges to be a taxonomic
unit, such as a species or order.
Taxonomy - correct answer ✔✔the science of describing, naming, and classifying species of
living or fossil organisms
Paleontology - correct answer ✔✔the study of prehistoric life
Extinction - correct answer ✔✔the permanent loss of a population of species, arising with the
death or failure to breed of the last individual
uniformitariansm - correct answer ✔✔the idea that the natural laws observable around us now
are also responsible for events in the past. one part of this view, for example, was the idea that
the earth had been shaped by the cumulative action of gradual processes like sediment deposit
or erosion
Homologous - correct answer ✔✔traits are similar because they are inherited from a common
ancestor
