Principles of Evolutionary Processes Quiz

Charles Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution.

Natural selection is the primary driving force of evolution, acting upon heritable traits.

Fitness refers to an organism's ability to survive and reproduce, contributing to the next generation's gene pool.

A vestigial structure is an anatomical feature that once had a purpose in the organism's evolutionary past but no longer serves a function.

A phylogenetic tree illustrates the evolutionary relationships and common ancestry between different species or groups of organisms.

Directional selection favors extreme phenotypes, shifting the mean towards one direction.

The founder effect is a type of genetic drift where a small group establishes a new population with limited genetic variation.

Convergent evolution is when unrelated species develop similar traits due to similar environmental pressures.

Temporal isolation occurs when species breed at different times, preventing gene flow.

Allopatric speciation is the formation of new species due to geographic barriers preventing gene flow between populations.

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a model that describes how allele frequencies remain constant in a population that isn't evolving.

The bottleneck effect occurs when a population undergoes a drastic reduction in size, leading to decreased genetic diversity and potential for evolutionary change.

Stephen Jay Gould proposed the concept of punctuated equilibrium, suggesting that evolution occurs in rapid bursts followed by long periods of stability.

The Baldwin effect is the idea that behaviors learned during an individual's lifetime can eventually become genetically encoded in subsequent generations through natural selection.

Adaptive radiation occurs when a single ancestral species rapidly diversifies into a variety of forms, each adapted to a specific environment or ecological niche.