(D)evil Evolution Review Questions

• Knowing and understanding scientific theories, would you say that our understanding of natural selection can be quite different 100 years from now? Explain.

• Differentiate between gene flow and genetic drift.

• Use one of the examples of evolution to explain how the process of natural selection works.

• What do scientists mean when they say that evolution cannot create super organisms, because it has only a given set of genes that it can work with.

• The picture below shows a group of finches living on the Galapagos islands. They all originated from the same ancestor species. Provide a potential explanation for their differences. Suggest a possible mechanism of evolution that could drive this process.

• How did Darwin contribute to the theory of evolution?

• List 5 evidence that supports the theory of evolution and describe how molecular evidence can be used to support evolution.

• Differentiate between homology and analogy.• Explain how we can use comparative anatomy

as an evidence of evolution. How can it lead to mistaken conclusions about the relatedness of two species?

• List the five aspects of natural selection.• Describe how overpopulation and heritable

variation relate to evolution by natural selection.

• Analyze the graph below, relate it to natural selection:

Understanding Evolution: Problem-based discussion

1) What characteristics of the graphs show that there was variation in the population? How much variation was in the population in 1976? How much variation was in the population in 1978?

2) What happened to the population size between 1976 and 1978? What other changes occurred in the population?

3) Based on the data, what is the approximate average beak depth of the population in each year?

Ribozyme structure comes from Scott, W.G., Finch, J.T., Klug, A. (1995) The crystal structure of an all-RNA hammerhead

ribozyme: a proposed mechanism for RNA catalytic cleavage. Cell 81: 991-1002

Natural selection in Darwin’s finches

Understanding Evolution: Problem-based discussion

Ribozyme structure comes from Scott, W.G., Finch, J.T., Klug, A. (1995) The crystal structure of an all-RNA hammerhead

ribozyme: a proposed mechanism for RNA catalytic cleavage. Cell 81: 991-1002

4) Based on these limited data, which mode of selection seems to have operated on the finches? What evidence supports this idea? – AP only

5) What do you hypothesize could have caused this change between 1976 and 1978? Describe a possible ecological relationship between drought and beak size.

6) Assume the drought continues for another 2 years,. If natural selection is occurring, what would you expect to see in future generations? If the changes in beak size are not due to natural selection, but to drift, then what would you expect to see in future generations?

Natural selection in Darwin’s finches

• Analyze the data in the table below. Which two organisms are the closest to humans? How do you know? What other molecule can be used to draw evolutionary relationships?

• List three mechanisms of evolution and explain how one of these can change the genetic makeup of a population.

• Differentiate between sexual selection and natural selection.

• List three examples of evolution and explain how one proves that evolution is a process that takes place at any given time in the history of life.

• Is it correct to say that “antibiotic use created antibiotic resistance”? Why? Why not?