©BRIGHTSTARS EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/17/2024 10:19 AM
Chapter 6: evolution of the brain and
behavior Exam Study Guide.
Naturalists - answer✔students of the forms and classifications of organisms
evolution - answer✔descent with modification
some species evolved, developed and improved while others became extinct.
evolution by natural selection - answer✔-Hypothesis announced by Charles Darwin and Alfred
Wallace separately but simlutaneously.
-theory that evolution proceeds by differential success in reproduction -- those with strong
attributes live on and evolve.
-Darwin's 4 observations:
1. reproduction will tend to increase a population rapidly unless factors limit it
2. individuals of a given species are not identical
3. some of the variation among individuals is inherited
4. not all offspring of a given generation survive to reproduce
those who survive long enough to reproduce have more fit characteristics for their
environment, and so will their offspring
Adaptations - answer✔traits that increase the probability of successful reproduction
-likelihood an individual will live offspring in next generation
Sexual Selection - answer✔members of each sex exert selective pressures on the other sex
(anatomically and behavioral) that favor reproductive success
-EXAMPLE: the female pickiness has led to the extravagant tails of peacocks
1|Page
, ©BRIGHTSTARS EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/17/2024 10:19 AM
evolution may converge upon similar solutions - answer✔adaptation to similar environments
can bring about similarities in behavior and structure of animals that are even very distantly
related.
convergent evolution - answer✔process by which similar ecological features bring up similar
behavior between distantly related individuals
homoplasy - answer✔resemblance in physical or behavioral characteristics due to convergent
evolution
NOT BASED ON ANCESTRY
Homology - answer✔in contrast to homoplasy
-resemblance based on common ancestry
Analogy - answer✔similar in function even though structures might look different
-human hand and elephant trunk are analogous structures.
Gregor Mendel - answer✔discovered the laws of biological inheritance by using plants.
Botanist and monk.
Hugo de Vries - answer✔biologist
discovered mutations -- change in nucleotide sequence of gene due to unfaithful replication (a
mistake or bump). MUTATIONS ARE HERITABLE
-noticed that certain features would skip generations and then appear in many following
generations
Mutations - answer✔can be inherited
-can be harmful, neutral and beneficial
-beneficial -- gives slight reproductive advantage over other individuals
-mutations become more and more widespread as they are passed down through generations.
genetics - answer✔study of mechanisms of inheritance and genes
chromosomes - answer✔supercoiled lengths of DNA
-found in cell nuclei
genes - answer✔length of DNA that encodes info for making a certain protein
2|Page
11/17/2024 10:19 AM
Chapter 6: evolution of the brain and
behavior Exam Study Guide.
Naturalists - answer✔students of the forms and classifications of organisms
evolution - answer✔descent with modification
some species evolved, developed and improved while others became extinct.
evolution by natural selection - answer✔-Hypothesis announced by Charles Darwin and Alfred
Wallace separately but simlutaneously.
-theory that evolution proceeds by differential success in reproduction -- those with strong
attributes live on and evolve.
-Darwin's 4 observations:
1. reproduction will tend to increase a population rapidly unless factors limit it
2. individuals of a given species are not identical
3. some of the variation among individuals is inherited
4. not all offspring of a given generation survive to reproduce
those who survive long enough to reproduce have more fit characteristics for their
environment, and so will their offspring
Adaptations - answer✔traits that increase the probability of successful reproduction
-likelihood an individual will live offspring in next generation
Sexual Selection - answer✔members of each sex exert selective pressures on the other sex
(anatomically and behavioral) that favor reproductive success
-EXAMPLE: the female pickiness has led to the extravagant tails of peacocks
1|Page
, ©BRIGHTSTARS EXAM SOLUTIONS
11/17/2024 10:19 AM
evolution may converge upon similar solutions - answer✔adaptation to similar environments
can bring about similarities in behavior and structure of animals that are even very distantly
related.
convergent evolution - answer✔process by which similar ecological features bring up similar
behavior between distantly related individuals
homoplasy - answer✔resemblance in physical or behavioral characteristics due to convergent
evolution
NOT BASED ON ANCESTRY
Homology - answer✔in contrast to homoplasy
-resemblance based on common ancestry
Analogy - answer✔similar in function even though structures might look different
-human hand and elephant trunk are analogous structures.
Gregor Mendel - answer✔discovered the laws of biological inheritance by using plants.
Botanist and monk.
Hugo de Vries - answer✔biologist
discovered mutations -- change in nucleotide sequence of gene due to unfaithful replication (a
mistake or bump). MUTATIONS ARE HERITABLE
-noticed that certain features would skip generations and then appear in many following
generations
Mutations - answer✔can be inherited
-can be harmful, neutral and beneficial
-beneficial -- gives slight reproductive advantage over other individuals
-mutations become more and more widespread as they are passed down through generations.
genetics - answer✔study of mechanisms of inheritance and genes
chromosomes - answer✔supercoiled lengths of DNA
-found in cell nuclei
genes - answer✔length of DNA that encodes info for making a certain protein
2|Page
