Genetic drift occurs when a group of a single species is separated into two groups which become separate species.  The two species are then exposed to similar enviroments causing them to evolve similar adaptations.  The African ostrich and the South American Rhea are examples of this.

Adaptive radiation is one species diverging into two which each diverge into two new species.  The divergence continues to happen until the original species is now many species that occupy many  niches in the environment.

Convergent evolution is the process by which distantly related organisms evolve traits similar to each other.  An example of this is the streamlined bodies of a trout (a fish) and a dolphin (a mammal).

In the theory of punctuated equilibrium, evolution occurs constantly at a very slow steady rate.

Louis Pasteur did his famous rotting meat experiment which disproved spontaneous generation.

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently but at the same time discovered that natural selection is the means by which evolution takes place.

Louis Pasteur was the scientist that showed the molecules of life in conditions similiar to the early earth were able to produce protocells.  Protocells are large ordered structure with a membrane that carries on some life activities like growth and division.

Jean Baptiste LaMarck was a scientist that explained evolution by saying that organisms develop positive adaptations during their lives that they pass on to their offspring.

The gradual change in a species over time is called evolution.

The first organisms on earth are theorized to be autotrophic, unicellular and prokaryotes.

The idea that nonliving material can produce life is called spontaneous generation.

Directional selection favors both extreme variations of a trait.  An example of this is a salt water snail that has either a dark shell or almost white shell which allow them to blend into the white or dark rocks.  The snails with tan shells which do not blend in get eaten by gulls.

Oparin proposed a theory that the storms in the primative atmosphere were able to produce the basic molecules of life such as amino acids and carbohydrates.  He was not able to prove his theory.

Miller and Urey were the two scientists that proved the hypothesis that basic life molecules can be produced from the conditions in the early earth’s atmosphere.

Gradualism is when two totally unrelated species evolve a mutualistic relationship such as with flowers and their pollinators.

________________________ refers to a population in which the percentage of the alleles remains the same over many generations.

Which of the following causes a change in genetic equilibrium which results in evolution?

________________ favors one extreme variation of a trait suich as longer beak sizes in woodpeckers.

The process of creating a new species is called:

In __________ the average individuals are favored by natural selection so there will be more of them in the population.

__________________is the percentage of any specific allele in a gene pool.

_________________ is the alteration of allelic frequencies by a chance event in a small population.  An example is a mutation in the Amish population that causes extra fingers and toes.

A structural feature with common evolutionary origin is called a _____.  An example would be the forelimb of a bird, human and whale.

Which of the following is not part of Darwin’s theory?

The creation of a __________________ is instantaneous speciation since another entire set of chromsomes is inherited.  This changes the chromosome number keeping it from mating with its parent species.  This is most common in plants.

Why were the brown caterpillars scarce during seasons of enough rain?

A structure that has limited or no use in an organism but was inherited from an ancestor that used it is called a(n):

There are several pieces of evidence that support Darwin’s theory.  Which of the following is one of these pieces of evidence?

In a certain grassland, there is a group of caterpillars that are particularly tasty for birds.  Most of them are green in color but there are a few brown ones.  One year there was a particularly long dry spell in the summer.  In the fall, biologists noticed there were very few green caterpillars but there were lots of brown ones.

Why were the green caterpillars more numerous when there was enough rainfall?