Chapter 3 review

1. Carolus Linnaeus came up with what classification system?

Linnaeus came up with the systema naturae, or natural system, in the 18th
century which placed apes and humans in the same order.
2. Who came up with the theory of acquired characteristics? What was its main
idea?
Jean Baptiste Lamarck. Its main idea is that characteristics can be
acquired over time and therefore species can evolve.
3. Who is responsible for the theory of catastrophism? How does this theory work?
Georges Cuvier. It is a rival to evolution and states that catastrophes and
not evolution were the cause for different species. After catastrophes, new
species were created to fill the void that was left.
4. What is uniformitarianism? Who are key founders of this principle?
James Hutton and Charles Lyell were the founders of uniformitarianism.
This hypothesis suggests that the earth is being shaped and reshaped by
natural forces over long periods of time.
5. In what year did Charles Darwin publish The Origin of Species?
The Origin of Species was published in 1859.
6. According to your text, what is the definition of natural selection?
Natural selection is the main process that increases the frequency of
adaptive traits through time.
7. What are the three principles of natural selection? Define each one.
1. Variation
Every species is composed of a variety of individuals, some of
which are better adapted to their environment than others.
2. Heritability
Offspring inherit traits through their parents.

3. Differential reproduction success

The frequency of adaptive traits increases gradually in subsequent
generations.
8. What is the difference between gene flow and genetic drift?
Genetic drift is gene frequencies in isolated populations.
Gene flow results from the mating between populations.
9. On page 50 there is a small article Is Evolution Slow and Steady or Fast and
Abrupt? After reading this article, explain how punctuated equilibrium works.
Punctuated equilibrium is the theory that species evolve very quickly and
exist unchanged for long periods of time before they become extinct.
10. Who is Gregor Mendel?
Mendel was an amateur botanist whose work with pea plants helped to
discover dominant and recessive genes.
11. What are dominant traits? Recessive traits?
When a dominant trait is paired with a recessive trait, the offspring will
take on the dominant trait. Recessive traits only occur when paired with
other recessive traits. An example would be brown eyes versus blue eye.
12. What is the difference between phenotype and genotype?
The genotype of the genetic makeup while the phenotype is the observable
appearance.
13. What is a unit of heredity called?
A unit of heredity is a gene.
14. What is an allele? Give an example.
An allele is a member of a gene pair or group. An example would be a pea
plant which is yellow but carries a dominant yellow gene and a recessive
green gene making it heterozygous.
15. If an organism carries two identical alleles for the same trait, we label this
as_________.
Homozygous.

16. If an organism carries two different alleles for a trait, we label this as
__________.
Heterozygous.
17. In what cellular structure do you find DNA?
????We find DNA in the nucleus our molecules.
18. What are the four amino acids that make up DNA?
AGTC
Adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine.
19. What is a mutation? List one beneficial mutation and one negative mutation.
A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence. A negative mutation would
be mental retardation. A beneficial mutation would be creating more
melanin to fend off the harsh UV rays from the sun.
20. What are the three fields that look at natural selection from a behavioral
approach?
Sociobiology, behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology.
21. Define each of the three fields listed.
Sociobiology deals with social organization and social behavior.
Behavioral ecology deals with how all kinds of behavior are related
to the environment.
Evolutionary psychology deals with how evolution may have produced
lasting variation on the way humans behave, interact, and perceive
the world.
22. What is a meme?
A meme is analogous to a gene, only it deals with a unit of cultural
transmission rather than a genetic trait.
23. According to your text on page 66, how is human evolution both biological and
cultural?

Human evolution is both biological and cultural due to the relation

between our genetic makeup and our cultural behavior. For example,
humans are very intelligent creatures and this may be linked to our large
brains, which is a result of our biological makeup.