Discussion and Review Questions - History of Evolutionary Thought | BIOL 5532, Study notes of Theory of Evolution

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Evolution BIOL5532 Discussion and review questions 1/18/2007 History of evolutionary thought What is biological evolution and why is it important? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Describe a process of change in living organisms that is not an example of evolutionary change? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Trace the history of evolutionary thought prior to Darwin focusing on the key contributors and their conclusions. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ What influence did both Charles Lyell and Thomas Malthus have on Charles Darwin? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Discuss the key stumbling block to widespread acceptance of Darwin’s mechanism by which evolution occurs? What were some of the competing theories and how did this problem eventually become resolved? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Several alternatives to Darwinian natural selection were around during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Define three of the major alternatives to natural selection at the time. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ What is the modern synthesis and what influence did it have on Darwinian natural selection? Be sure to discuss what fields of study were important to the development of the synthesis and discuss the three major architects of the modern synthesis during the 1920’s and 1930’s and their influence on the development of modern evolutionary biology. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Briefly discuss the influence of the modern synthesis on the field of paleontology. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ What major players in the early development of the modern synthesis dealt with speciation as part of modern evolutionary biology? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________