Katie-Mae Stockley W16

BIOL 1070 Midterm review

General terms
Nested Hierarchy: refers to the way taxonomic groups fit neatly and completely inside
other taxonomic groups.

Biodiversity: The term given to the variety of life on Earth.

Diversity: number of species in a taxonomic group or a geographical area
Biological species concept: species are groups of interbreeding natural populations
that are reproductively isolated from other such groups

Levels of organization: Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus,

Species (populations within species)

Species: groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated

from other such groups

Population: group of interbreeding individuals and their offspring (for sexual species)
Dioecious: have separate males and females
Sexual dimorphism: differences between males and females
Ontogeny: significant changes in morphology from youth to old age
Phenotypic plasticity: same genotype produces different phenotypes depending on the
environment

Microsatellites: regions of the genome that do not code for proteins and vary widely in
quantity among individuals

Abundance: number of individuals among a species

Disparity: how physically different species in an area are from each other

Phylogenetics
Phylogenetics: the particular ways in which living things are related to one another
through their common ancestors (shown in trees)

Katie-Mae Stockley W16

Phylogeny: The history of the evolution of a species or group, especially in reference to

lines of descent and relationships among broad groups of organisms.

Sister taxa: closest relatives descended from a single recent ancestor

Root: common ancestor shared by all species depicted
Branches: connections between ancestors and descendants
Terminal nodes: living species
Internal nodes: extinct ancestors
Topology: order of branching - shows relationship
Clade: group of species that includes that last ancestor that they shared and all its
descendants

Cladogenesis: ancestral species splitting or branching in two separate lines / descendent

species

Cladistics: classification based on evolutionary relationships

Monophyletic group: valid clade - meaning one lineage - includes the last shared
ancestor and all its descendants

Paraphyletic group: non-valid clade - one of the descendants is left out

Homology: traits sharing ancestral background, ie. inherited from common ancestor
Homoplasy: traits that are similar but have evolved independently
Speciation: formation of new species

Evolution & Variation

Evolution: Is change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend the
lifetime of a single individual. Variation is key to evolution.
Variation: differences among individuals within a species
Convergent evolution: The process whereby organisms not closely related (not
monophyletic)/ in independent lineages, independently evolve similar traits as a result of
having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches

Katie-Mae Stockley W16

Divergent evolution: development of different functional structures from a common

ancestral form

Speciation: The formation of a new species

Mutation: origin on new genetic variation (heritable change in DNA)
Genetic drift: random changes in allele frequencies caused by chance events
Bottleneck effect: sudden, severe reduction in population size (natural disaster, disease
etc.) The result is that the new population is a genetic representation of the survivors.

Founder effect: loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new, smaller population is
established (small pop. is broken off). The result is that the genetics of the population's
decedents reflect those of the original members.

Gene flow: The transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another. It is a
random event and causes an increase in population

Natural selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment
tend to survive and produce more offspring. It is by definition non-random and causes a
decrease in population

Adaptation: characteristic, evolved through natural selection that enhances survival or

reproduction of an organism relative to alternative, especially ancestral, character states.
A physical, physiological, behavioral, or other characteristic evolved through natural
selection. Adaptation is NOT the change undergone by an individual organism during its
lifetime in response to external conditions.

Ecological speciation: the process by which ecologically based divergent selection

between different environments leads to the creation of reproductive barriers between
populations.

Genetic isolation: Group of organisms that are genetically separate from others of the
species, with no gene flow to or from other groups (can result in speciation)

Ontogenic variation: changes to an animal that occurs as it goes through life (so not
evolution)

Alleles: alternate forms of a gene

Genotype: set of genes possessed by an organism

Katie-Mae Stockley W16

Phenotype: physical expression of the genotype in combination with environmental

factor

Frequency: proportional representation of a phenotype, genotype, gamete or allele in a

population

Artificial selection: selective breeding of domesticated animals and plants

Co-option: feature that serves one function takes on a new function often while still
serving the original function ex. The mantle tissue of mussels

Intraspecific variation: physical differences among individuals of a species

Interspecific variation: variations between different species
Darwins postulates:
1. Individuals within populations are variable
2. This variability among individuals is at least partly heritable
3. Not everyone survives and reproduces, and some individuals are more successful than
others
4. The differential survival and reproduction of individuals is associated with the
heritable variation among individuals (non-random)

Mussels
Dreissena polymorpha: formal name of zebra mussels
Velingers: the larval form of dreissenids
Glochidia: the larval form of unionids
Unionid: A family of freshwater mussels, generally having separate sex. Unionids are
obligate parasites where glochidia (larvae) are released and must attach to the gills of a
fish host to complete their development

Obligate parasitism: must parasitize a host at some point in their reproductive cycle
Marsupium: modified pouches of the female's gills where the embryos develop
Conglutinates: glochidia enclosed in membranous capsules that mimic host prey
Host capture: mussel physically grips host and pumps glochidia over gills

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Lures: modifications of tissue that already existed for other reasons (unmodified mantle
tissue - used to produce shell)

Means of host attraction:

1. Ovisacs: membranous capsules that mimic host prey
2. Conglutinates: packets of glochidia that stick to host fish
3. Host capture: grip host fish with ridges on edge of shells then release glochidia into
fish mouth and gills
4. Simple lures: modified mantle tissue to catch fishs attention
5. Complex lures: modified tissue that mimic fish or crustaceans and can move in water
to attract the fishs attention

Unionid life cycle:

1. Males release sperm into water where it taken up by the female through siphons
2. Fertilization happens internally within the female
3. Larvae grow within the marsupium of the female
4. The mussel using some means to attract a host fish and then deposits glochidia in its
gills
5. Glochidia enter parasitic life stage
6. Turn into young mussels
7. Turn into adult mussels

Veliger larvae life cycle: (no parasitic stage)

1. Fertilization happens with eggs and sperm externally
2. The larvae float around and grow
3. Larvae turn into juvenile mussels
4. Mussels continue to grow into full size adults

Extinction type things:

Extinction: loss of existing species
Geographical barriers: factor preventing gene flow (ie. mountain range)
Endangered: abundance has dwindled severely (need protection)
Extirpated: species still exist, but they are no longer found in an area where they did
once

Background extinction: loss of small numbers of miscellaneous species

Mass extinction: 50% or more of existing species may be lost in a relatively short
period

Katie-Mae Stockley W16

Faunal turnover: following a mass extinction, new niches are opened and surviving
lineages diversify - substantial reorganization of biodiversity

Holocene extinction event: mass extinction event almost entirely caused by

anthropogenic factors (human activity)

IUCN: international union for conservation of nature - maintains "red list" of threatened
and endangered species

General Questions:
Who's been evolving the longest? A: no one! All living species share a
common ancestor and have therefore been evolving for the same amount of
time.
Is there a main line of evolution? A: No.
Can traits be gained and lost A: Yes, in some cases phylogenetic trees actually
suggest multiple points or trait loss in a lineage, rather than a single gain of trait
event. Thank about the flightless birds.

What factors contribute to the threats to native freshwater mussels?

A:
-Invasive species (competition)
-habitat alteration
-water pollution (agricultural runoff)
-overfishing of mussels or their host fish
-using mussel shells as buttons
-natural predators
-temperature changes
Why do glochidia need to attach to the gills of a host fish? A: Gills carry nutrients