BIOL 1202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Divergent Evolution, Cell Theory, Directional Selection
Document Summary
The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena. Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena. Theory vs. hypothesis: theory: general explanation of natural phenomena, developed through extensive and reproducible observations, hypothesis: tentative explanation of observations; educated guess. Main points of origins of species : evolution occurs in populations, advantageous (it"s selected for) vs. disadvantageous (it"s selected against, natural selection is the mechanism. Observation 1: potential for rapid reproduction observation 2: constant population size over time inference: competition for survival; differential reproductive success ( struggle ) Competition for survival variation in structures and behaviors + some variability is inherited natural selection: on average, organisms best suited to an environment leave the most offspring [one species in a geographical area is called a population] Natural selection: on average, organisms best suited to an environment leave the most offspring some variability inherited evolution: the genetic makeup of a population changes over time, driven by natural selection.
