Adaption def
a structure, behaviour, or physiological process that helps an organism survive and reproduce in a particular environment
Mutations def
Changes in the genetic material of an organism (can occur spontaneously in DNA replication during the S phase of interphase before the cell divides)
Mutations and evolution link?
Mutations types
Selective Advantage def
a genetic advantage that improves an organism’s chance of survival, usually in a changing environment
Genetic Variation cause
Genetic Variation and evolution link?
Natural Selection def
Process by which nature favours the reproductive success of some individuals in a population over others; traits which may change characteristics in a population over time
Selective Pressure def
any environmental condition that selects for certain characteristics of an individual and selects against other characteristics
Does natural selection have an end goal?
Fitness def
The relative contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation by producing offspring that survive long enough to reproduce
Evolution def + can individuals evolve?
Process by which the genetic material (DNA) of a species changes over time
Individuals do not evolve because their DNA does not change. However, groups of peoples’ genetic makeup may change due to certain individuals being able to survive
Archbishop James Usher
Baron Georges Curvier
- Studied fossils and found that;
James Hutton (1795)
Actualism: geological formations are the result of slow processes that occurred in the past and is ongoing today
Charles Lyell
Uniformitarianism:
Lyell’s and Hutton’s work suggested;
Georges Buffon + Erasmus Darwin + Charles Linnaeus
*Common ancestor that create a new species*
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744)
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin observations
1. Fossils of extinct animals looked very similar to living animals
2. Animals that were near each other looked more similar
3. Galapagos species look similar but varied slightly between islands
4. Artificial selection
5. The finches on the Galapagos Islands closely resembled those on the adjacent coastline.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823) w/ Charles Darwin
Relative Age of fossil
Absolute Age of fossil