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Speciation and Phylogenetics
Concepts and Vocabulary
36
Biology
Undergraduate 1
03/11/2014

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Term
What are the two causes of speciation?
Definition
Isolation and divergence of populations
Term
Isolation results in what (with regard to migration)?
Definition
Reductions in gene flow
Term
Allopatric speciation
Definition
Reproductive isolation due to some physical (geographic) boundary preventing gene flow. May also occur when some members cross an existing barrier to establish a new population (founder event). This is the dominant form of speciation.
Term
Vicariance
Definition
Form of allopatric speciation whereby Earth's tectonic plates separate populations.
Term
Sympatric speciation
Definition
Reproductive isolation due to the absence of a physical barrier. Often due to ecological or genetic differences (ie. in polyploidy individuals, where there is a duplication of chromosomes). May occur in conjunction with disruptive selection.
Term
Parapatric speciation
Definition
Reproductive isolation occurring among geographically adjacent populations, often due to difference environmental conditions.
Term
What is one important consequence that arises when reproduction isolation is incomplete?
Definition
Hybridization
Term
Reinforcement
Definition
Process by which reduced hybrid fitness generations selection favoring the evolution of stronger pre-zygotic reproductive barriers.
Term
Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms
Definition
Prevent hybridization from occurring.
Term
Post-zygotic isolating mechanisms
Definition
Reduce the fitness of hybrid offspring, resulting in selection against hybridization.
Term
What are the five types of pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms (explain each)?
Definition
1. Mechanical isolation: differences in size/shape of reproductive organs
2. Temporal isolation: differences in breeding seasons
3. Behavioral isolation: rejection of mates to to specific female preferences or the failure to recognize potential mates
4. Habitat isolation: two species have specific preferences for living/breeding habitats
5. Gametic isolation: sperm may not be physically or chemically capable of fertilizing an egg
Term
Binomial nomenclature
Definition
Developed by Linnaeus, a form of classification definied by the format: Genus species
Term
What is the difference between taxonomy and phylogeny?
Definition
Taxonomy deals with classifications and phylogenies are concerned with evolutionary relationships.
Term
What are the 7 levels of classification and which is the most biologically meaningful level?
Definition
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species (keep pond clean or froggy gets sick). Species is the most important form of classification (the other levels are arbitrarily defined).
Term
Taxon
Definition
A named group of organisms to which individuals or sets of species are assigned.
Term
Phylogeny
Definition
History of evolutionary relationships among organisms or their genes.
Term
Nodes
Definition
Branching points that show where lineages diverged (speciation).
Term
Lineage
Definition
Series of ancestral and descendant populations through time. Can be used for a single evolving species or several related species with a common ancestor.
Term
Terminal (extant) taxa
Definition
Tips of branches
Term
What is the difference between cladogenesis and anagenesis?
Definition
Cladogenesis is speciation (when phylogenetic branches diverge) while anagenesis is change without speciation (straight lines in phylogenies)
Term
What are the three ways we describe sets of taxa (explain)?
Definition
1. Monophyletic (clade): contains all the descendants of a common ancestor and only those descendants
2. Paraphyletic: contains some, but not all, descendants of a common ancestor
3. Polyphyletic: contains taxa whose members' last common ancestor is not included in the group
Term
Polytomy
Definition
More than two lineages branching from a common ancestor.
Term
How are phylogenies inferred for a set of taxa?
Definition
Through the use of character data, or diagnostic features of organisms. This includes morphological, developmental, and molecular features.
Term
Parismony
Definition
Minimizes the number of evolutionary changes that must be reconstructed for all characters on a tree
Term
Homology
Definition
Similarity between organisms due to inheritance from a common ancestor
Term
Ancestral trait
Definition
A trait that was present in the ancestor of a group
Term
Derived trait
Definition
A trait found in a descendant that doesn't exist in the ancestor
Term
Synapomorphy
Definition
Shared, derived traits
Term
Symplesiomorphy
Definition
Shared, ancestral traits
Term
Autapomorphy
Definition
Trait unique to only one taxon
Term
Homoplasmy
Definition
Similar traits in distantly related taxa due to either convergent evolution or evolutionary reversal.
Term
Convergent evolution
Definition
Independently evolved traits subject to similar selection pressure that become superficially similar.
Term
Evolutionary reversal
Definition
When a character reverts from a derived state back to an ancestral state.
Term
What is the difference between ingroups versus outgroups?
Definition
Ingroups contain the organisms of primary interest while outgroups are used as comparisons to the ingroup. Outgroups are closely related, but not belonging to, the ingroup.
Term
What are the benefits of using phylogenies?
Definition
1. They help reconstruct past events: discover origins of a new disease?
2. They allow us to compare and contrast living organisms
3. They reveal convergent evolution: when a trait arises multiple times is it an adaptation?
4. Conservation biology: how can variation best be preserved?
5. Co-evolving species
Term
If traits are adaptations, we predict that they evolve in association to what?
Definition
The environment to which the traits are adapted.
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