EVOLUTION
IMPORTANT TERMS:
Abiogenesis: Origin of life from non-living materials.
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Asteroiods:
Minor planets ranging a diameter from 1.5 km to 450km.
·
Adaptive
Radiation ( Divergent Evolution): Formation of different
structures from acommon ancestral form eg. homologous organs.
·
Allopatric
Speciation: Origin of new species in geographically
isolated populations.
·
Artificial
Selection: Process by which man chooses the traits, he wants
to perpetuate.
·
Biogeny:
Origin of first life.
·
Biopolesis:
Origin of life.
·
Chemogeny:
Origin and development of different types of organic molecules.
·
Comets:
Small masses of solid particles in universe held loosely together.
·
Cognogeny:
Development
of different forms of life.
·
Conacervates:
Large colloidal cell-like aggregates of complex organic compounds which are
supposed to have appeared during the origin of life.
·
Convergent
Evolution: Formation of similar traits by unrelated groups of
organisms
·
eg .analogous organs.
·
Demes:
Refers
to genetically isolated populations.
·
Eobiont:
Cell-like structure capable of self duplication.
·
Gene
Pool: Refers to sum total of all the different kinds of
genes (alleles) in a population.
·
Homoplastic
Organs: Analogous organs having similar external
appearance.
·
Inbreeding:
Mating
between two closely related individuals.
·
Mass
Extinction: Large scale extinction of organisms
over relatively short span of time.
·
Nebula:
Condensed mass of dust and gas.
·
Natural
Selection: Selection of the best adapted individuals by
nature.
·
Organic
Evolution: Natural process by which newer forms of organisms
arise from pre-existing ones through modifications. (or) Descent with
modification (Darwin, 1859).
·
Out
Breeding: Mating of two unrelated individuals.
·
Palaeogenesis:
Occurrence of ancestral traits in the embryo.
·
Palaeontology:
Study
of fossils or study of remains and impressions of past organisms found in the
rocks of different ages.
·
Parallel
Evolution: Independent formation of similar traits by related
groups of organisms.
·
Progressive
Evolution: Formation of more complex and specialized
structures from simpler ones.
·
Retrogressive
Evolution: Development of simpler and less
elaborate forms from complex ones.
·
Speciation:
Refers to origin of new species.
·
Sympatric
Speciation: Origin of new species in a population
occupying the same geographical area.
·
Tectology:
Study of functional anatomy of the organisms.
·
Universe
(Cosmos): The entire material world that can be seen or
detected with certain instruments like telescope. It is considered limitless
and includes all stars, planets,satellite,etc.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
·
Anthropology:
Study of origin and development of humans in all their physical, social and cultural
relationships.
·
Anthropobiology:
Study of the biological relationship of the human race.
·
Coenozoic
era is
also called Age of Mammals, Birds, Fishes, Insects and Angiosperms.
·
Cosmology:
Study
of universe, its nature, origin and history.
·
Exobiology:
Study of possible life outside the earth.
·
Evolutionary
Biology: The branch of biology that involves the study of
living systems as they change through time.
·
Hyalobates hoolock (the gibbon) is
the only ape, found in India (forests of Assam).
·
Most primitive ape is Gibbon.
·
Most developed ape is Gorilla.
·
Life
presumably
originated in the ancient ocean in
Precambrian era.
·
Progenote:
It
is considered that is was an early single celled common ancestor of
archaebacteria, eubacteria and eukaryotes. It indicate that there is no present
day bacterial type which can be regarded as an ancestor of eukaryotes.
·
Ordovician
Period is also called
‘Age of Giant Molluscs’.
·
Mesozoic
era is
also called “Age of Reptiles”.
·
Living
Fossils: A living fossil is a living animal or plant of
ancestral origin with many primitive characters. A living fossil has been
living as such from the time of origin without many changes. Examples.(i) Peripatus, Limulus (arthropoda) (ii) Neopilina
(molluse) (iii) Latimeria (bony
fish) (iv) Sphenodon (reptile) (v) Egg laying mammals (vi) Cycas, Ginkgo (gymnosperms).
·
Allen’s
Law states
that in animals that live in very cold climates, the extremities such as ears, tails etc; become progressively
smaller.
·
Bergman’s
Law
states that the warm blooded animals become larger in the northern and colder
parts of their range.
·
Cope’s
Law states
that there is a tendency for animals to, increase in size during the long
course of evolution.
·
Dollo’s
Law (Dollo,
1893) states that evolution is irreversible.
·
Gause’s
Law (Gause,
1934) or Principle of Competitive
Exclusion (Hardin, 1960) states that two species having the same ecological
requirements cannot continue to occupy indefinitely the same habitat.
·
Gloger’s
Rule states that among warm blooded animals those living
in warm and moist climates develop more melanin pigment (darker than the
animals in cold, dry climates), whereas formation in dry, hot climates have
more yellow and red pigment.
·
Jordan’s
Rules states that fishes inhabiting water of low
temperature tend to have more vertebrae than those of warmer waters. It has
been observed that cold water forms of many species are frequently larger than
the individuals from warmer waters.


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