Conceptual Actual Exam Questions With
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1. Who was Charles Darwin? What was his contribution to understanding of
biological evolution? - ANSWER Medical school in Edinburgh, dropped
out to become clergyman at Cambridge & instead became naturalist on the
Beagle ship
Developed a theory of evolution by means of natural selection
All living things are connected in the tree of life
2. What is the significance of the Voyage of the Beagle? - ANSWER Darwin
studied geology
Darwin's book The Origin of Species; All species share common ancestors &
changes occur through natural selection
- Artificial Selection: Humans have been acting as the selective agent for which
some plant and animal species reproduce = Results in exaggeration of traits not
seen in nature
3. How did Charles Lyell influence Darwin? What is uniformitarianism? - ANSWER
- wrote book Darwin took on voyage
- talked about gradual change
- old rocks simpler, newer rocks more complex
,- geologist
the idea that Earth has always changed in uniform ways and that the present is
the key to the past.
4. What were Darwin's notable observations in Patagonia (South America)
and the Galápagos Islands? - ANSWER Many of the living things found
there are unique to these islands (endemic, evolved because of this
environment)
5. Who was Alfred Russel Wallace? What was similar (or different) about his
thoughts and Darwin's? - ANSWER Independently formulated the idea
of natural selection (less detail & fewer examples)
6. What is population thinking (as outlined by Darwin & Wallace)? How is this
different from typological thinking? - ANSWER rejects a focus on a
central representative type, and emphasizes the variation among
individuals.
For the typologist, the type (eidos) is real and the variation an illusion, while for
the populationist the type (average) is an abstraction and only the variation is real
7. What is artificial selection? What does the "artificial" refer to? - ANSWER
the identification by humans of desirable traits in plants and animals,
and the steps taken to enhance and perpetuate those traits in future
generations
, 8. Who was Thomas Malthus? What is the "Principle of Populations"? How is
this principle relevant to evolution? - ANSWER Political Economist
Believed food limiting resources; therefore population size is limited
populations double every 25 years
food becomes limiting (lags behind)
leads to poverty, employment, misery
Malthus' work made Darwin realize the importance of overpopulation and how it
was necessary to have variability in different populations
9. What is meant by descent with modification? - ANSWER The idea that
species change over time, give rise to new species, and share a common
ancestor.
10. Synapomorphy / homology / homoplasy / convergent evolution - ANSWER
Synapomorphy: A character or trait that is shared by two or more
taxonomic groups and is derived through evolution from a common
ancestral form
Homology: Similarity of the structure, physiology, or development of different
species of organisms based upon their descent from a common evolutionary
ancestor