Transcript vocabulary evolution

Term to Know about
Evolution
Evolution – the process
by which populations
accumulate inherited
changes over time
Fossils – the
solidified remains or
imprints of onceliving organisms
Fossil record – a
historical sequence
of life indicated by
fossils found in layers
of the Earth’s crust
Adaptation – a
hereditary characteristic
that helps an organism
survive and reproduce in
its environment
Traits - a
distinguishing quality
that can be passed
from one generation to
another
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)
was an English naturalist who
achieved fame by convincing the
scientific community that species
develop over time from a common
origin. His theories explaining this
phenomenon through natural and
sexual selection are central to the
modern understanding of evolution.
Inherit – to receive
characteristics from
parents
Natural selection – the
process by which an
organism with favorable
traits survive and
reproduce at a higher
rate than organisms
without the favorable trait
Speciation – the process by
which two populations of the
same species become so
different that they can no longer
interbreed
The three steps speciation –
separation, adaptation, division
Causes of changes in
Evolution and Speciation:
weather Land
Water
Food
Other species
Survival of the fittest
Mimicry
Camouflage
Warning coloration
DNA Mutation
Catastrophic event
Selective breeding - the
intentional mating of two
animals in an attempt to
produce offspring with
desirable characteristics or
for the elimination of a trait
Dominant traits - a trait observed
when at one dominant allele for
a characteristic is inherited
Recessive trait – a trait that is
apparent only when two
recessive alleles for the
characteristic are inherited
DNA- DeoxyriboNucleic Acid;
hereditary material that
controls all the activities of a
cell, contains the information
to make new cells, and
provides instructions for
making proteins
Mutation - a change in the
order of the bases in an
organism’s DNA; deletion,
insertion, or substitution
Mutagen – anything that can
damage or cause changes in
DNA
"Darwin's Eden"
Watch the Scientific American Frontiers special Voyage to
the Galapagos (Show 1001), and then test your knowledge
by answering the following questions.
1. All the animals in the Galapagos exhibit this unusual trait
in the presence of people.
2. Darwin referred to them as "aboriginal species."
Biologists today call them:
a. endemic species.
b. endangered species.
c. extinct species.
d. primitive species.
"Evolving Beaks"
3. The 13 species of these birds, made famous
by Darwin, are a classic example of how living
things adapt to their environment.
a. mockingbirds
b. finches
c. parrots
d. boobies
4. According to Darwin, the driving force of
evolution is:
"Lizards of the Sea"
5. How did large land animals get to the Galápagos?
6. The 1997-98 El Niño was especially devastating for marine iguanas
because it (choose two):
a. made ocean water colder.
b. killed the algae.
c. made ocean water warmer.
d. caused predators to invade.
"Masked Killers"
7. According to biologist Dave Anderson, about ___% of eggs laid by the
masked booby hatch.
a. 10
b. 25
c. 60
d. 75
8. Anderson's observations suggest that for masked boobies, "siblicide" is a
successful adaptive behavior because:
"Paradise Lost?"
9. What caused land iguanas to became extinct on Santiago?
10. In tortoises and other reptiles, the sex of the offspring depends upon
the:
a. ocean temperature.
b. weather.
c. time of year when eggs were laid.
d. temperature of the nest.