BIOL 2400 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Even-Toed Ungulate, Darwinism, Synapomorphy
9 Apr 2016
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How scientists study evolution / natural philosophy to darwin. Biological evolution: any change in the inherited traits of a population that occurs from one generation to the next (ie. how insects that eat crops can evolve resistance to pesticides) Understanding evolution = why the world is the way it is & how did we get here. Lineage: the chain of ancestors and their descendants (ie. cetaceans - whales/ dolphins - evolved to marine animals from mammals that lived on land) Ie. mammalian lineage shown through cetaceans" live birth, babies feeding on milk from mother. Natural selection: one mechanism for evolution, whereby differential survival or reproduction of individuals causes some genetic types to replace (outcompete) others. Ie. individuals with a favourable trait (ie. Ie. individuals with a favourable trait (ie. long necks of a giraffe) are more likely to survive, and therefore more long-necked giraffes are produced until all giraffes in a population have long necks.
