Evolution Biology: Phyletic Gradualism and Punctuated Equilibrium

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Who popularized the model of allopatric speciation?

Kim Sterelny

Charles Darwin

Ernst Mayr (correct)

Stephen Jay Gould

What happens to new and beneficial mutations in a large central population?

They are diluted by the population's large size (correct)

They are eliminated by natural selection

They are more likely to reach fixation

They are caused by gene flow

What is the process by which a species splits into two distinct species?

Allopatric speciation

Cladogenesis (correct)

Anagenesis

Phyletic gradualism

What is the expected fossil record evidence of gradual evolution if most evolution happens through allopatric speciation?

Rare Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the state of little or no morphological change in a species over time?

Stasis Signup and view all the answers

What is the phenomenon where species undergo no further evolutionary change once speciation is complete?

Stasis Signup and view all the answers

According to the fossil record, what is the characteristic of evolutionary change in a species?

Little or no change for most of its geological history Signup and view all the answers

What is the nature of change in lineages according to Kim Sterelny?

It wobbles about the phenotypic mean Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the process of a species transforming into a new one through steady transformation?

Anagenesis Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of evolutionary stasis?

Osmunda claytoniana Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the fossil evidence of reproductively isolated Olive Shells (Amalda sp.)?

It confirms morphological stasis Signup and view all the answers

What is the theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, it will show little evolutionary change for most of its geological history?

Punctuated equilibrium Signup and view all the answers

What does Dawkins term the alternative to 'constant speedism'?

Variable speedism Signup and view all the answers

What do Eldredge and Gould propose about evolution?

Evolution generally proceeds in bursts, or not at all Signup and view all the answers

What is an extreme case of, according to 'continuously variable speedism'?

Ultra-slow evolution Signup and view all the answers

What is the concept often mistakenly opposed to punctuated equilibrium?

Phyletic gradualism Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used by Richard Dawkins to describe the idea of evolution proceeding at a single uniform rate of speed?

Constant speedism Signup and view all the answers

What do proponents of 'continuously variable speedism' believe about evolutionary rates?

Evolutionary rates fluctuate continuously from very fast to very slow and stop Signup and view all the answers

What is the main focus of George Gaylord Simpson's conjecture?

Evolution at higher taxonomic groups Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between 'discrete variable speedism' and 'continuously variable speedism'?

The pattern of evolutionary rates Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the book in which Richard Dawkins dedicated a chapter to correcting the wide confusion regarding rates of change?

The Blind Watchmaker Signup and view all the answers

What is the process described by Jonathan Weiner's book 'The Beak of the Finch'?