Week 7 Evolution Milestone Review

Front

What is natural selection?

Back

Natural selection is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Front

How did the Industrial Revolution affect peppered moths in Manchester?

Back

Natural selection favored moths with dark wings because predators could not see them on the soot-colored trees.

Front

What does a similarity in amino acid sequences between two species indicate?

Back

It likely indicates that these animals have a common ancestor.

Front

Why are mutations important in evolution?

Back

Mutations bring about genetic variation needed for a population to evolve.

Front

What is a mutation?

Back

A mutation is a random change in the DNA of a gene.

Front

What is extinction?

Back

Extinction is the permanent disappearance of a species.

Front

What is genetic variation?

Back

Genetic variation refers to the diversity in gene frequencies within a population.

Front

What is the significance of a common ancestor in evolutionary biology?

Back

A common ancestor indicates that different species share a lineage and have evolved from a shared genetic background.

Front

What role do predators play in natural selection?

Back

Predators can influence which traits are favorable for survival, leading to natural selection.

Front

What is the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Back

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes a population that is not evolving, where allele frequencies remain constant.