| A | B |
|---|
| Charles Darwin | Proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection. The animals (or plants) best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the characteristics which helped them survive to their offspring. Gradually, the species changes over time. |
| 1809-1882 | Darwin's life span |
| HMS Beagle | Ship that Darwin sailed on during his 5 year voyage around the world |
| Galapagos Islands | Where Darwin discovered many of his most important observations which led to his hypothesis about the history of life on Earth |
| Evolution | a change over a period of time |
| fossils | bones and other traces of ancient organisms |
| 99.9% | estimate of the number of species which have gone extinct |
| adaptations | a combination of behaviors and physical characteristics which help a species survive and reproduce in its environment |
| fitness | the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce, therefore successfully pass along its genes to its offspring. |
| 6 categories of evidence of evolution | fossils, homologous structures, analogous structures, vestigial structures, embryonic similarities, and genetic comparisons |
| homologous structures | Structures derived from a common ancestor or same evolutionary or developmental origin which are often used for different purposes in varying species but formed from similar tissues/bone construction |
| vestigial structures | Structures which seem to have little or no purpose in the organism; refers to an organ or part which is greatly reduced from the original ancestral form and is no longer functional or is of reduced or altered function |
| analogous structures | Structures of different species having similar or corresponding function but not from the same evolutionary origin or of the same and structural make-up |
| Charles Lyell | The Father of Geology; Darwin agreed with his idea that the modern world must have been shaped by the same geological forces that can be seen today, thus lending to the idea that life could change over time as well. |
| Thomas Malthus | An English economist who observed that babies were being born faster than people were dying; suggested that war, famine and disease limit populations; Darwin took this idea further and applied it to all organisms |
| On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection | Darwin's book that was published in 1859 |
| artificial selection | Humans selecting organisms to reproduce offspring |
| natural selection | The process by which species struggle for existence, which selects the fittest individuals to survive in nature |
| common descent | a group of organisms share this if they have a common ancestor |
| irreducible complexity | an argument by proponents of intelligent design (Creationists) that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler, or "less complete" ancestors |
| intelligent design | Creationists believe that certain features of living things are best explained by this, and not natural selection (evolution) |
| embryonic similarities | the same groups of embryonic stem cells in early fetal growth develop in the same order & in similar patterns to produce the tissues and organs - shows common descent (common ancestor) |
| genetic comparisons | genes (order of base pairs in DNA) are almost identical in all organisms |
| fossils change over time | remains of life (fossils) found in different layers of Earth formed at different times, show that organims have changed over time |
| Alfred Wallace | Sent Darwin a letter a year before Darwin published his book - had similar ideas to Darwin's on evolution of species |
| Jean-Baptiste Lamarck | proposed that by selective use or disuse of body parts, organisms acquired or lost certain traits during their lifetime, which were passed down to offspring - over time, this led to change in a species |
