Quiz 7 Review

Foundational Principles of Evolution:

1.       Animal types exist & fill niches

2.       Animal types form populations

3.       Populations are composed of unique individuals

4.       Individuals are not equally successful or favored

 

Principles of Evolution proposed by Darwin and Wallace:

5.       Success or superiority is context specific

6.       Overpopulation occurs and creates intrapopulation (intraspecific) competition

7.       Competition causes “favored” or “superior” individuals to survive and reproduce more often

8.       Successful “favored” traits become prevalent in future generations

a.       Conclusion: level of selection pressure and generation time determines the rate of change

 

Principles of Evolution that support ideas proposed by Darwin and Wallace:

9.       Traits are passed through gametes

10.   Gametes contain instructions for inheritance written in nucleotide polymers

11.   Nucleotide polymers in Eukaryotic DNA are organized into chromosomes

12.   Chromosome genes (segments) code for heritable traits

13.   Traits have multiple alleles for associated genes

a.       Traits with individual diversity have allelic diversity (individual diversity = allelic diversity)

14.   Allelic frequencies can change over time

  Questions:

Ø  What are some examples of animals that are specialists?

Ø  What kind of environment do specialists live in?

Ø  Allele diversity must be ________ for a population to evolve.

Ø  Is niche segregation the only cause of specialization?

Ø  What factors promote niche segregation?

Ø  What is a more productive ecosystem, one full of specialists or one full of generalists?

Ø  Are specialists better competitors than generalists?

Ø  What is the cause of the decline of the black footed ferret?

Ø  What 2 processes play a large role in specialization occurring?

Ø  What limits gene flow?

Ø  What is an example of specialization sensitivity?

Ø  Why are specialists so sensitive to change?

Ø  What is an example of naïve prey?

Ø  What is an example of a pre-adapted predator?

Ø  Is mating success always caused by sexual selection?

Ø  What is evolution? Can individuals evolve?

Ø  What are four ways adaptation (specialization) occurs? Natural Selection à Adaptation

o   Give an example & description of each – remember to indicate if there is a common ancestor

Ø  Is specialization a consequence of Natural Selection?

Ø  What are some of the characteristics of generalists?

Ø  T/F – Only the realized niche is affected in a specialist population

 

Matching: match a term in column A with a definition in column B, then match that with an example in column C.

 

Co-evolution	Superior traits are selected for and become prevalent in the population over many generations. This process causes the allele frequency in the population to change.	Several species of birds and lizards are now extinct due to the inability of these species to prevent predation of the brown tree snake.
Specialist	A population that is exploited by new predators because of the lack of co-evolution with that predator.	The smallest unit of evolution, adaptation, or allele frequency change made up of unique individuals.
Niche Segregation	Caused by migration and subsequent breeding of individuals from one population to another population. This process causes the allele frequency to change.	Darwin’s finches experienced and adaptive radiation in which the “new” populations each have less resource overlap and less competition than the original population.
Exaptation	Predator – Prey relationships cause selection pressure on both populations. Phenotypes that are beneficial are more likely to survive and reproduce.	The red fox lives in many diverse habitats around the world. It has a lot of individual variation within each population.
Pre-adapted Predator	A population that has a reduced realized and fundamental niche due to some type of isolation from other populations and long history of ecological stability.	Melanistic color alleles have occurred in many species of large cats including leopards and jaguars and has added to the adaptive potential of these populations.
Population	A population that has high rates of gene flow, increasing the individual variation within each population. The fundamental and realized niche include many types of resources.	The evolution of feathers initially occurred as a mechanism for insulation but became beneficial in the evolution of flight.
Natural Selection	A change in the genetic material sequence caused by radiation, mutagenic chemicals, or errors in meiosis. This causes new alleles in a population, and changes the allele frequency.	Male lions are often kicked out of the pride they were born into and will join or create a new pride in order to reproduce.
Generalist	A group of interbreeding individuals that are the same species living in a defined area.	Burmese pythons are a serious problem in Florida due to the successful adaptations of these invasive populations
Naïve prey	A reduction in resource overlap promoted by competition for limited resources, mutualistic relationships, predation, convenience, or just luck.	Stickleback fish that have more armor are less likely to suffer from predation and will have increased chance of reproductive success.
Mutation	An existing trait is utilized for new environmental conditions.	The black footed ferret populations are near extinction due to the reduced quantity of prairie dogs.
Allele flow	A population is successful in a “new” location due to the prior co-evolution of these beneficial traits in a separate location	Some fish have evolved the ability to “fly” due to the pack hunting behavior exhibited by Barracuda.