EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION •    Explain the two forces that drive microevolution: adaptation and overproduction of offspring. •    List two pieces of evidence that Darwin used to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. •    Explain the link between natural selection and reproductive success. •    List the 5 conditions required for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. For each, give an example of how a real population would not meet that condition. •    Compare and contrast directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection. •    Explain how natural selection can maintain harmful alleles in a population. •    Explain how sexual selection can promote traits that decrease fitness. •    Compare and contrast how mutation, genetic drift, non-random mating, and gene flow contribute to evolution. •    How can natural selection favor different phenotypes at different times? •    Explain why hard body parts are more likely to appear in the fossil record. •    Describe two ways that the age of a fossil can be determined. •    Explain how biogeography can be used to explain the evolution of a species. •    Compare and contrast homologous, analogous, and vestigial structures. This would include giving an example of each. •    Explain how embryonic development can be used to identify evolutionary relationships. •    Describe how DNA sequences can reveal evolutionary relatedness. •    Explain what is meant by a molecular clock. •    Describe the forces that lead to the evolution of new species. •    Compare and contrast microevolution and macroevolution. •    Define a biological species. •    Compare and contrast several forms of pre-zygotic and post-zygotic barriers to reproduction (3 of each) •    Compare and contrast allopatric, sympatric, and parapatric speciation. •    Compare and contrast gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Give an example of how the fossil record exhibits both. •    Describe three mechanisms of adaptive radiation. •    Identify factors that can affect the extinction rate of species. •    What is the advantage of a cladistics approach over a more traditional approach to phylogeny? •    Summarize the evidence for the origin of life on Earth. •    Describe how conditions on the early Earth could contribute to the production of biological molecules. •    Explain why RNA may have been the first form of genetic material. •    Describe how endosymbiosis contributed to the evolution of eukaryotes. •    Describe the evidence for human evolution. •    Describe the evidence supporting the Out of Africa model of human dispersal.