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Ecology and Evolution
Test #1
145
Biology
Undergraduate 1
02/27/2006

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Term
Darwin/ Darwinism
Definition
is a term for the underlying theory in the ideas of Charles Darwin, particularly concerning evolution and natural selection
Term
Aristotle
Definition
the founder of academic biology
Term
Erasmus Darwin
Definition
Charles Darwin's grandfather who was a much published physician interested in chemistry and biology. Supported for the view that species evolve into one another
Term
evolution
Definition
the process by which populations of organisms acquire and pass on novel traits from generation to generation
Term
creationist
Definition
is the origin belief that humans, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by a supreme being or deity's supernatural intervention.
Term
transmutation
Definition
process of change from one form into another (birds of the Galapagos change from island to island)
Term
descent with modification
Definition
new species are produced from established species and new species do not remain the same as the old species.
Term
Plato
Definition
supported that species are fixed and unchanging
Term
natural selection
Definition
the net reproductive advantage of individuals with favored characteristics resulting in sustained evolutionary change.
Term
overpopulation
Definition
the number of individuals compared to the resources they need to survive and having too many
Term
gradualism
Definition
a theory which holds that profound change is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes.
Term
variation
Definition
individual differences
Term
pangenesis
Definition
Charles Darwin's hypothetical mechanism for heredity that brought 'together a multitude of facts which are at present left disconnected by any efficient cause'.
Term
gemmules
Definition
reside in all the tissues of life, shaping organs and processes
Term
Gregor Mendel/ Mendelism
Definition
relating to the transmission of hereditary characteristics from parent organisms to their children, and underly much of genetics.
Term
modern synthesis
Definition
the reconciliation of Darwinism and Mendelism together with systematics and other parts of biology
Term
materialism
Definition
the rejection of ideas such as Christian science as part of a general scientific movement that was started primarily by the pgysicist and astromomer Galileo
Term
catastrophists
Definition
long past geological upheavals such as those arising from Noah's flood, acould explain the creation of geological features; opposite of gradualists
Term
uniformitarians/ gradualists
Definition
the slow, cumulative action of everyday processes like sedimentation and erosion was a sufficient explanation of geology; opposite of catastrophists
Term
Lamarckism
Definition
is a term used for the theory in biology of heritability of acquired characteristics, the idea that an organism can acquire characteristics during its lifetime and pass them on to its offspring.
Term
creationist
Definition
the Biblical system of life is one in which the original creations of God are supposed to survive indefinitely on Earth
Term
evolutionary tree
Definition
a representation of the history of life as a treelike pattern of diversification
Term
speciation
Definition
when new species evolve from existing species and the species survives
Term
anastomoses
Definition
when two branches can grow together to make interspecies hybrids or symbiotic fusions; eukaryotic cell evolved as a result of repeated symbiotic fusions
Term
maximum parsimony
Definition
the principle of preference for a simple explanation over a complex one
Term
Prokaryotes
Definition
singlecelled microbes that lack nuclei and other cell organelles
Term
Eukaryotes
Definition
both single-celled and multicellular, with nuclei and other organelles
Term
domains
Definition
3 classes before Kingdom; Bacteria, Eukarya, Archaea
Term
Bacteria
Definition
prokaryotes, familiar
Term
Eukarya
Definition
eukaryotes, protozoa, fungi, plants, animals
Term
Archaea
Definition
like bacteria; mixed attributes
Term
Kingdoms
Definition
five or six, depending on system
Term
endosymbiont
Definition
two bacteria living and working together; theory about how eukaryotes and photosynthetic plants evolved.
Term
methanogens
Definition
use CO2 and H+ for energy and release methane gas.
Term
halophilic
Definition
salt loving
Term
thermophilic
Definition
heat loving, live in hot springs and ocean vent.
Term
conjugation
Definition
one cell receives a plasmid from another cell
Term
transformation
Definition
excretion and ingestion of DNA
Term
transduction
Definition
Dna is transfered by a virus
Term
biological classification
Definition
groups very similar organisms into species, clusters species into larger and larger aggregations. Affiliations of organisms may be very subtle. Not based on evolutionary theory.
Term
common ancestors
Definition
two different species that decended from the same original species.
Term
biogeography
Definition
the distribution of species over the earth.
Term
allometry
Definition
things mature disproportionatly
Term
comparative method
Definition
uses the pattern of adaptation among species and their environment to infer evolutionary causes.
Term
adaptation
Definition
the products of natural selection (response to natural selection)
Term
homology
Definition
a structure present in an ancestor is retained in descendent species
Term
serial homology
Definition
when a species has repeated structural features.
Term
homoplasy
Definition
similarity is produced in multiple evolutionary lineages by the action of natural selection.
Term
convergent evolution
Definition
have similar features but get them seperately.
Term
melanism
Definition
dark coloration of many European butterflies.
Term
haploid
Definition
has only one copy of genetic material
Term
diploid
Definition
two copies of genetic material
Term
polyploid
Definition
more than two copies of genetic material
Term
meroploidy
Definition
varying numbers of copies.
Term
endosperm
Definition
a tissue involved in fertilization; offer nutrients to developing fetus
Term
polyteny
Definition
a condition where cells contain hundreds of copies of genetic material
Term
chromosome
Definition
strings of genetic information
Term
loci
Definition
individual genes location on a chromosome.
Term
alleles
Definition
specific versions of genes
Term
gametes
Definition
haploid, basic tenet of Mendelian genetics
Term
zygote
Definition
combination of two gametes, become one organism.
Term
meiosis
Definition
doubling of chromosomes and recombination
Term
independent assortment
Definition
all loci and allele are seperate and freely recombine.
Term
gene expression
Definition
how genes determine the characteristics of organisms
Term
genotype
Definition
used to define the part of the organism that is of interest
Term
phenotype
Definition
features of interest for a particular organism, how genes are expressed
Term
population
Definition
members of a sexual species living with in easy traveling distance of each other.
Term
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Definition
With out an external force there is no tendency for allele frequency to change. Can use to quantify change through natural selection
Term
linkage equilibrium
Definition
the hypothetical case in which we can calculate what genotype frequencies would be like if alleles combined at random.
Term
linkage disequilibrium
Definition
deviation from the ideal of random combination.
Term
quantitative character
Definition
a character that has no clear catagories
Term
variance
Definition
the sum of squared deviations of observations from the mean divided by the total sum of (x-mean)^2/n
Term
dominance
Definition
when one allele masksw or modulates another
Term
recessivness
Definition
when it takes two copies of an allele for it to show up.
Term
epistasis
Definition
when alleles at seperate loci interact
Term
inbreeding
Definition
when related individuals mate
Term
heterozygosity
Definition
having varying alleles
Term
inbreeding coefficent
Definition
the chance that randomly chosen alleles in two half siblings is identical by a common ancestor
Term
inbreeding depression
Definition
the reduction of the values of characters that are related to fitness or function.
Term
hybrid vigor
Definition
unrelated inbred lines are crossed, hybrid is usually superior
Term
genetic disease
Definition
repeat allele in the genome
Term
sub-division of population
Definition
some populations contain more variation
Term
Wahlund effect
Definition
the impact of population subdivision
Term
genetic drift
Definition
the working out of chance on the next level up from inheritance.
Term
natural selection
Definition
survival of the fittest, selection based on particular traits that seem advantagous
Term
selection differential
Definition
the deviation of the selected group from the population as a whole.
Term
response to selection
Definition
the average difference between the offspring of the selected group and the rest of the breeding population
Term
heritability
Definition
(h^2) genetic parameter when determining the difference
Term
cumulative selection response
Definition
deviations of the off spring of selected organisms from the average of the total population.
Term
cumulative selection differential
Definition
deviation of select parents from the total population
Term
phenotypic variation
Definition
the difference in genetically available characteristics.
Term
directional selection
Definition
"natural selection" comes to mind, favor a phenotypic extreme, which most don't attain.
Term
fitness
Definition
the average reproduction of an individual or genotype, calibrated over a complete life cycle
Term
stabilizing selection
Definition
eliminates individuals at the extremes of the distribution of a quantitative character, favors intermediate phenotypes.
Term
phenotypic selection
Definition
the variety of characteristics there are to choose from.
Term
disruptive selection
Definition
selection against the middle of the distribution. Increase varience, can lead to speciation.
Term
bimodal
Definition
two peaked phenotypic distribution
Term
clones
Definition
child with out having sex
Term
mutation
Definition
when specific DNA sequences are chemically changed or miscopied.
Term
clonal selection
Definition
mutations supply genetic varience
Term
purifying selection
Definition
getting rid of the unwanted
Term
heterzygote superiority
Definition
when having two different alleles has highest (Sickle Cell Anemia and Malaria)
Term
balancing selection
Definition
keep varience equal, counter-act purify
Term
fission
Definition
splitting in two
Term
fixation
Definition
when one allele is the only one present
Term
deletrious mutation
Definition
mutations that reduce fitness, because of random occurance with respect to the direction of selection
Term
frequency-dependent selection
Definition
when selection favors rare genotypes, gives the rare a "boost up"
Term
anti-biotic resistant
Definition
bacteria that can withstand antibiotic, illustrates natural selection
Term
plasmids
Definition
large circles of DNA, mode of exchange between DNA.
Term
Industrial melanism
Definition
change of moths to darker color
Term
"F" plasmids
Definition
found in bacteria, exchanged when bacteria with them conjugate with non-"F" plasimid bacteria
Term
isogamous
Definition
simplest form of eukaryotic sex; sex with two gametic types that are not distinguishable; common in algae
Term
gametes
Definition
sperm and egg; modules of parents genetic information
Term
eggs
Definition
immobile gametes
Term
sperm
Definition
mobile gametes
Term
sex ratio
Definition
1:1 in sexual organisms
Term
hermaphrodites
Definition
able to mate with any member of the species
Term
self fertilization
Definition
having sex with oneself, tend to make recessive deletrious alleles
Term
cannibalism
Definition
eat own species; females who eat their mate
Term
sex switching
Definition
changing sex to what would be most advantagous
Term
promiscuous
Definition
when multiple mates are chosen
Term
testes
Definition
produce and store sperm; promiscuous tend to me larger and monogamous smaller
Term
polygamy
Definition
one sex has access to multiple of other sex
Term
monogamy
Definition
male and female live together and rear their young
Term
adultrously
Definition
monotonous species copulate with another individual.
Term
sexual selection
Definition
having sex enough to produce offspring; chosen based on characteristics that don't nessicarily add to their fitness
Term
runaway selection
Definition
accidental correlation between mating preference and anatomy.
Term
handicap
Definition
only have mating purpose; hinder organism in other ways.
Term
incubators
Definition
care for young
Term
parental care
Definition
providing for the offspring
Term
altruism
Definition
one animal aiding another
Term
social insects
Definition
group living insect species
Term
workers
Definition
supply resources to a small sub-set; often sterile.
Term
queen
Definition
incharge; only reproductive female
Term
soldiers
Definition
"stop" predators
Term
kings
Definition
primary reproducers
Term
selection among families
Definition
kin selection; sterile one helps the other
Term
kin selection
Definition
based transmission of an organism's genes into the next generation by means other than the production of immediate descendants. One sister helps another.
Term
consanguinity
Definition
"same blooded", number of genes that two organisms have in common
Term
identical twins
Definition
all genes are in common
Term
coefficent of genetic relatedness
Definition
number of genes related in an individual
Term
ritualized
Definition
hold back aggression; more for show
Term
game theory
Definition
math applied to human economics and criminal behavior
Term
Evolutionary Stable Strategy(ESS)
Definition
unbeatable strategy; a population cannot be invaded
Term
sociobiology/evolutionary psychology
Definition
using Darwinian principles to explain human and animal behavior.
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