Evolution and the Origin of Species

Recall cards on evolution and speciation: understanding evolution (natural selection and its three conditions, descent with modification, Darwin and Wallace, the Galapagos finches and the Grants' study, sources of genetic variation, adaptation, divergent versus convergent evolution); the evidence for evolution (fossil record, homologous and analogous and vestigial structures, embryology, biogeography and Pangaea, molecular and genetic evidence, gene duplication); common misconceptions (theory in science, evolution acting on populations, origin of life, goal-direction, antibiotic resistance); the formation of new species (the biological species concept, speciation, reproductive isolation, allopatric versus sympatric speciation, dispersal and vicariance, adaptive radiation, auto- and allopolyploidy, prezygotic and postzygotic barriers); and reconnection and speciation rates (hybrid zones, reinforcement, fusion, and stability, hybrid fitness, gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium).