Vertebrate Zoology

ZOOLOGY
1. "The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life. Includes: Structure, behaviour, physiology, development and classification of animals
NATURAL SELECTION
1. Organisms produce more offspring than ever survive
  1. Organisms within species vary
    1. Any variation which gives an individual a survival advantage will be passed down to the next generation (if trait is heritable)
  2. Some die because those with survival advantage outcompete them
2. EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS
  1. Mutation
  2. Gene Flow
    1. Movement of genes between populationa
  3. Genetic Drift
    1. Random changes in gene frequencies within a population
  4. Recombination
Speed of Evolution
1. GRADUAL (Darwin and John Maynard Smith)
  1. Small changes within species (microevolution)
    1. evolution of new species, families etc. (macroevolution)
2. RAPID (Gould and Mayr)
  1. PUNCTUATIONISTS
    1. Species show little or no evolutionary change throughout history
      1. When speciation does occur, it happens over a short period of time
        Gradualism is rare in fossil records: intermediate forms are rare i.e. missing links are indeed missing

Resource summary

	Created by Litty Carter about 11 years ago