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105 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Population Genetics |
Genetic changes in populations |
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Microevolution |
A change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation. |
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Species |
A group of individuals that have the potential to interbreed and produce fertile offspring. |
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Gene pool |
All alleles found in a population at any one time. |
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Fixed Allele |
An allele that is for the same gene in all individuals of the population. |
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Hardy-Weinberg Principle |
The frequency of alleles and genotypes in a population remain constant over the generation unless acted upon by agents other than segregation and recombination. |
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Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium |
The repeated shuffling of a population's gene pool over the generations cannot increase the frequency of one allele relative to another. |
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Hardy-Weinberg Equation |
p^2+2pq+q^2=1 or p+q=1 |
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Genetic Drift |
The frequencies of particular alleles randomly change drastically. |
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Founder Effect |
A few individuals from a larger population colonize a new area, and their genetic makeup doesn't accurately represent the gene pool of the larger population. |
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Bottleneck Effect |
A disaster that causes a drastic drop in the size of the population, with the survivors not representative of the original gene pool. |
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Assortive Mating |
When phenotypically similar individuals mate, causing an increase of the homozygous individuals. |
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Disassortive Mating |
When phenotypically different individuals mate, causing an increase in the heterozygous individuals. |
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Mutation |
Change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA, typically random and affecting any gene locus. |
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Gene flow |
The movement of alleles from one population to another. |
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Artificial Selection |
When a breeder selects for desired characteristics. |
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Sexual dimorphism |
Marked differences between sexes in secondary sexual structures. |
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Intrasexual Selection |
Competition among individuals of one sex (often males) for mates of the other sex (often female). |
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Intersexual Selection |
When individuals of one sex (usually females) are choosy in selecting their mate. This typically results in one sex being more elaborate than the other. |
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Adaptations |
Characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments. |
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Evolution |
How an entity changes through time. |
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Natural Selection |
(Survival of the fittest) evolutionary change resulting when some individuals in a population which possess certain inherited characteristics produce more surviving offspring than individuals which lack these characteristics. |
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Charles Darwin |
"Father of evolution" Traveled to Galapagos Islands and witnessed the variety of finch species. |
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Lamarck |
Scientist who argued that species had the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, and the Use and Disuse theory. |
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Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics |
Individuals passed characteristics on to their which they had acquired during their lifetime. |
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Use and Disuse |
The idea that parts of the body that are used get larger and stronger, while those that are not used deteriorate. |
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Convergent Evolution |
The independent evolution of similar features in different lineages ( insect and bird wings). |
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Divergent Evolution |
Members of the same species evolve in to different species, thus having a common ancestor. |
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Natural Theology |
The belief that adaptations are evidence of a creator's plan. |
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Paleontology |
Study of fossils. |
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Fossils |
Impressions of organisms from the past preserved in rock. |
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Sedimentary Rock |
Sand and mud that settles in areas covering previous layers of rock and compressing them. |
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Strata |
The layering of sedimentary rock. |
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Relative Dating |
Determining a rock's age by observing their position with respect to one another. |
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Absolute Dating |
Using radioactive decay to date rocks. |
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Macroevolution |
The creation of new taxonomic groups or species, genera, family, or kingdoms. |
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Speciation |
The creation of new species. |
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Anagenesis |
When one species changes into a new one, replacing the original species. |
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Cladogenesis |
The branching off of the original species, in which two species are formed. |
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Sympatric Speciation |
A small population within the original population becomes a new species without geographic separation. |
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Allopatric Speciation |
A portion of a population becomes geographically isolated from its parent population. |
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Polyploidy |
Non-segregation in meiosis changes chromosome number. |
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Adaptive Radiation |
The emergence of numerous species from a common ancestor. |
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Punctuated Equilibrium |
Speciation occurs in rapid spurts. |
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Gradualism |
Speciation occurs slowly over time as a species accumulates small changes which eventually add up to a new species. |
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Stromalites |
Fossilized mats similar to layered microbial mats. |
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Hydrothermal vents |
Hot volcanic outlets in the deep sea floor. |
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Spontaneous generation |
The thought that life could arise from nonliving matter through spontaneous generation. |
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Biogenesis |
All life arises only by the reproduction of preexisting life. |
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Phylogeny |
The study of the pattern of events that led to the diversity of life. |
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Systematics |
The study of biological diversity, encompassing taxonomy and the reconstruction of the phylogenic history. |
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Taxonomy |
The science of classifying living thing. |
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Taxon
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A group of organisms at a particular level in a classification system. |
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Cladistics |
The process of drawing phylogenic trees. |
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Homologous structures |
Similar structures indication common ancestry. |
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Analogous structures |
Similar structures but from different ancestors. |
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Mineralized fossils |
All organic parts of the bones is replaced by local minerals. |
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Organic fossils |
Preserved organic materials typically in amber or ice. |
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Imprint fossils |
Replicas of what once existed (imprints). |
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Clades |
Each evolutionary branch in a cladogram. |
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Monophyletic clades |
An ancestral species and all of its descendant species. |
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Paraphyletic clades |
Consist of an ancestor and some, but not all of that ancestor's descendants. |
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Polyphyletic clades |
Two or more groups unrelated species descended from more than one ancestor. |
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Shared primitive character |
A character shared by the common ancestor of the group. |
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Shared derived character |
A character unique to a particular clade. |
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Outgroup |
A group outside the groups in question that is least closely related to the other groups being compared. |
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Ingroup |
The other groups that share a similar characteristic. |
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Behavior |
The sum of an animal's response to external and internal stimuli. |
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Ethology |
The study of how animals behave. |
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Behavioral Ecology |
The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior. |
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Proximate Causation |
"How" a behavior occurs or is modified. |
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Ultimate Causation |
"Why" a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection. |
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Fixed action patterns |
Linked behaviors to simple stimuli, and are essentially unchangeable, which are usually carried to completion. |
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Sign Stimulus |
An external cue that acts as a trigger for a fixed action pattern. |
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Oriented movement |
Types of movements that are based upon environmental cue. |
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Kinesis |
A change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus (Sow bug activity based on moisture levels). |
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Taxis |
An oriented movement toward or away from some stimulus. |
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Migration |
A regular, long distance change in location. |
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Circadian Rhythm |
A daily cycle of rest and activity, based on light and dark cycles. |
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Circannual Rhythm |
Behavioral rhythms linked to yearly cycles of seasons. |
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Signal communication |
A stimulus transmitted from one animal to another. |
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Habituation |
A loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no new information. |
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Imprinting |
The formation at a specific age in a life of long-lasting behavioral response to an individual or object. |
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Sensitive period |
A limited developmental phase when certain behaviors can be learned. |
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Spatial learning |
The establishment of a memory that reflects the environment's spatial structure through the use of landmarks. |
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Landmarks |
An object or stimuli that can be used to build a cognitive map. |
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Cognitive maps |
A representation in the nervous system of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal's surroundings. |
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Associative learning |
The ability to associate an environmental feature (like color) with another (like foul taste). |
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Monogamy |
One male mating with one female. |
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Polygamy |
One sex with multiple other members of the opposite sex. |
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Polygyny |
One male mating with numerous females. |
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Polyandry |
One female mating with numerous males. |
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Density |
The number of individuals per unit area or volume. |
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Mark-Recapture Method |
Traps are placed within the boundary of the study area, and the captured animals are marked and released. Then, the traps are set out again. |
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Dispersion |
The pattern of spacing among individuals within the geographic boundaries of a population. |
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Life-tables |
Age specific summaries of the survival pattern of a population. |
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Cohort |
Group of individuals of the same age from birth to death. |
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Survivorship curves |
Plots of the proportion or # of members in a cohort still alive at each age. |
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Reproductive tables |
Age specific summaries of the reproductive rates in a population.
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Big-Bang Reproduction |
One-time reproduction. |
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Repeated reproduction |
Repeated reproductive events that are close together. |
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Carrying Capacity |
The maximum population size that a particular environment can support at a particular time with no degradation of the habitat. |
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Exponential growth |
When a population expands greatly due to a surplus of resources. |
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K-selected |
Late reproductive age, longer life span and maturation time, few offspring, extensive parental care. |
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R-selected |
Early reproductive age, shorter life span and maturation time, many offspring, no parental care. |