Biodiversity and Evolution

What is the primary mechanism that drives the evolution of species according to Darwin?

What is the role of the environment in the process of natural selection?

What is the result of changes in the genetic code of an organism?

What is the definition of evolution?

Why do organisms possessing adaptive characteristics have a better chance to survive and reproduce?

What is the result of favored traits being expressed in a population?

What was one of the themes stressed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in his work on organic evolution?

What did Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution build upon?

What is the primary purpose of the Linnaean classification system?

What was one of the key factors that made it probable for the 'organic movement' in animals, according to Lamarck?

What is one of the key differences between Lamarck’s and Darwin’s theories of evolution?

What is the primary characteristic used to identify species according to the morphological species concept?

What is the process by which a single species rapidly diversifies into new forms in response to changes in the environment?

What is the main reason why Darwin’s theory of evolution was groundbreaking?

What is one of the key implications of understanding biodiversity and evolution?

What is the lowest taxonomic rank in the biological classification of living things?

What is the primary characteristic used to identify species according to the biological species concept?

What is the primary characteristic used to identify species according to the polygenic species concept?

What is the primary function of decomposers in an ecosystem?

What is the term used to describe the position an organism occupies in a food chain?

What type of consumer is a grasshopper that feeds on leaves from a cornstalk?

What is the main characteristic of a secondary consumer in a food chain?

What type of organism is a maya bird that feeds on a grasshopper?

What determines the trophic level of a scavenger in a food chain?

What is the primary driver of the formation of new species, according to the gradualism model?

What occurs in periods of punctuated equilibrium, according to the theory?

What is the term for changes in the DNA that can be passed on to succeeding generations?

What is the primary focus of this chapter, according to the introduction?

What is the ultimate result of the gradual accumulation of adaptations to the environment, according to the gradualism model?

What is the role of the environment in shaping the evolution and behavior of organisms, according to the chapter?