2.1 Chapter Objectives
Learning Objectives
Our goal for this chapter is for you to appreciate the fundamental tenets of evolution, and how evolutionary thinking frames much of our understanding of biology. By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
1. Define the following terms:
- evolution
- population
- trait
- fossil record
- homologous trait
- analogous trait
- convergent evolution
- vestigial trait
- biogeography
- mutation
- natural selection
- variation
- heritability
- differential reproductive success
- fitness
- adaptation
- migration
- gene flow
- genetic drift (drift)
- founder effect
- bottleneck effect
- sexual selection
- species
- speciation
- phylogeny
- common ancestry
2. Describe evolution and why it happens to populations rather than individuals.
3. Explain, using specific examples, several lines of evidence suggesting that evolution has occurred.
4. Articulate requirements that must be met for a population to evolve by natural selection.
5. Describe how evolutionary mechanisms can result in the generation of new species.
6. Cite evidence demonstrating that human evolution is ongoing.
Content on this page was originally published in The Evolution and Biology of Sex by Sehoya Cotner & Deena Wassenberg and has been expanded and updated by Katherine Furniss & Sarah Hammarlund in compliance with the original CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.
