BIOL 1001 Chapter : Bio Ch 2
Document Summary
Evolution: two main ideas: change over time of the genetic composition of a population, decent of modern organisms with modification from preexisting organisms. Evolutionary adaptation is: accumulation of inherited characteristics that enhance organisms" ability to survive in specific environments. Lamarck: use and disuse, bodies of living organisms are modified through the use or disuse of parts. Inheritance of acquired characteristics: these modifications are inherited by offspring, these ideas turned out to be wrong. Darwin and wallace developed the theory independently: darwin-voyage of the beagle, wallace-naturalist in indonesia. Natural selection: the unequal survival and reproduction of organisms due to environmental forces, resulting in the preservation of favorable adaptations, process "selects" from what is available in the gene pool, new characteristics are not created on demand. Individuals in a population vary in their heritable characteristics: organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support.
