Chapter 3.
Know the online quiz questions (including short answer quiz questions 4,11,16,18,20,21-23):
- Why
did Darwin fancy pigeons?
- What
are the "4 postulates"
which, if satisfied, will result in evolution by natural selection?
- Relate
the Grant’s study of Darwin’s finches to testing whether evolution by
natural selection occurs (i.e. describe, in detail, how they tested the 4
postulates and the predicted outcome).
Be able to do the same for the experiment on snapdragons and
evolution of AZT resistance.
- Why
were large beaks favored during droughts in the medium ground finch?
- How
did the Grants determine if beak size and shape evolved over the course of
their study?
- What
was the pattern of beak evolution during the Grant's study?
- What
has been discovered regarding genetic control of beak shape in birds,
including Darwin's finches?
- What
does it mean to say "selection is not forward looking"?
- What
is the relationship between phenotype, genotype, natural selection,
heritability, and evolutionary change?
- What
must be measured in order to detect natural selection on a trait?
- Can we
study natural selection even when the heritability of a trait is unknown?
How?
- Be
able to interpret graphs that relate fitness to a phenotypic trait. (For
example, flower tube length vs. pollinia removed
in orchids).
- What
is a pre-adaptation? Give some examples.
- Describe
(roughly) the pattern of evolution of crystallins
in animal eye lenses. What is the significance of this example (i.e. what does it demonstrate about the evolution of novel biochemical functions)?
- What
is usually wrong about assertions that a trait evolved for the good of the
population or species? What is expected to happen to alleles that are
truly altruistic (i.e. don't confer a net benefit on their bearer)?
- Some creationists argue that selection is a random process (and therefore its highly improbably to have led to complex structures or organisms). Is selection random?
- Most creationists argue that complex, highly integrated structures, such as the vertebrate eye, are so well-engineered that they must be the work of an concious designer. Darwinism predicts that such strucures must have evolved through a series of intermediate stages. Is there evidence for the Darwinian prediction (use the evolution of eyes as an example).
- What is irreducible complexity? What does Michael Behe claim about "irreducibly complex" structures with respect to natural selection?
- Is there evidence that the flagellum is not irreducibly complex?