Chapter 16: Natural Selection
- What were Plato’s thoughts on organisms?
- What does typological thought mean?
- What were Aristotle’s thoughts on organisms?
- What is meant by “the great chain of being?
- What is at the bottom (top) of the great chain of being?
- Who was the first to propose the first formal theory of evolution? When?
- How did Lamarck agree with Aristotle? How is his theory different?
- What is meant by “inheritance of acquired characteristics?”
- Who was the first to suggest “survival of the fittest?” (Darwin is not the right answer)
- How did Darwin’s travels to the Galapagos frame his concept of natural selection? Specifically, how did the Galapagos finches play a role in this?
- Darwin began to think of evolution in population terms, not typological terms. How was this revolutionary?
- How would Lamarck argue that Giraffe’s necks became so long? How would Darwin make this argument?
- How was Alfred Wallace’s concept of evolution similar to Darwin’s? How was it different?
- How did Wallace encourage Darwin to publish On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection?
- Why was the Darwin-Wallace theory revolutionary? Why was it so controversial?
- What did Darwin mean by “descent with modification?”
- What are Darwin’s four postulates of natural selection?
- List the evidence of evolution that we currently have that supports the theory of evolution by natural selection.
- What evidence did Darwin use to argue that species are dynamic (and not static)?
- How are transitional forms evidence of evolution?
- List several example of vestigial traits. Why are they there?
- How is drug-resistant strains of bacteria evidence of evolution?
- What are homologies?
- What is the difference between structural, developmental, and genetic homology?
- Chickens and human fetuses both have gill pouches. What does that infer?
- Is the example of the peppered moth disruptive, stabilizing, or directional selection?
- Write an essay from the prompt, “Evolution is not…”
