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evolution
Evolution and all that entails
16
Biology
Undergraduate 1
10/16/2007

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Term
Evolution
Definition
change over time in the characteristics of populations.
Term
uniformitarianism
Definition
asserts the fact that the earth is very old due to evidence of age in fossils found in sediment representing different times in biological history
Term
inheritance of acquired characteristics
Definition
a process in which the bodies of living organisms are modified through the use or disuse of parts, and these modifications are inherited by offpspring. discovered by french biologist Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Term
homologous structures
Definition
they have the same evolutionary origin despite any differences in current function or appearance. same bone structure but used for different things.
Term
vestigial structures
Definition
parts of an organism that serve no purpose due to evolution's impact on whether that part was needed for survival at the time
Term
analogous structures
Definition
structures that are typically very different in internal anatomy, because the parts are not derived from common ancestral structures. butterflies and birds. both have wings but they are not structured the same way.
Term
convergent evolution
Definition
where natural selection causes nonhomologous structures that serve similar functions to resemble one another. which causes analogous structures to occur
Term

Evolution is based on four postulates discovered by darwin and Wallace:

postulate 1 

Definition
individual members of a population differ from one another in many respects
Term
postulate 2
Definition
at least some of the differences among members of a populations are due to characteristics that may be passed from parent to offspring.
Term
postulate 3
Definition
in each generation, some individuals in a population survive and reproduce but others do not
Term
postulate 4
Definition
the fate of individuals is not determined entirely by chance or luck. Instead, an individual's likelihood of survival and reproduction depends on its characteristics. individuals with advantageous traits survive longest and leave the most offpsring, a process known a natural selection
Term
artificial selection
Definition
the breeding of domestic plants and animals to produce specific desirable features.
Term
gene pool
Definition
the sum of all the genes in a population
Term
allele frequency
Definition
the relative proportion of each allele in a population
Term
hardy-weinberg theorem
Definition

there must be no mutation

there must be no gene flow between populations. that is, there must be no movement of alleles into or out of the population.

the population must be very large

all mating must be random, with no tendency for certain genotypes to mate with specific other genotypes

there must be no natural selection. that is, all genotypes must reproduce with equal success. 

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