1.
Describe the process of artificial selection as Darwin knew it and the process as specifically applied to the development of today's cultivated cauliflower. Be sure to include any relevant experimental evidence in your response.
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2.
Outline the basic model of Darwinian natural selection, being sure to include mechanisms as appropriate.
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3.
Define the terms "fitness" and "adaptation." Is fitness absolute? Explain.
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4.
Describe how Jones and Reithel demonstrated Darwin's postulates and their outcome in an experimental snapdragon population. What aspects of their study were "natural"? Which were manipulated? Given what you know about living organisms, how well did their model system represent patterns likely to hold in nature?
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5.
Using the medium ground finches of the Galapagos as an example, demonstrate that Darwin's postulates can be tested and verified in nature. Explain why these birds make a good model system for the study of natural selection.
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6.
Did natural selection occur in the experimental snapdragons and the medium ground finches? Did evolution? Justify your answer.
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7.
What, precisely, is the effect of selection on individuals? On populations? Does selection cause adaptive variation to arise? Explain.
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8.
Does evolutionary change always occur whenever selection favors some phenotypes over others? Why or why not?
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9.
Explain the statement "Selection is backward-looking, not forward-looking."
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10.
Explain how selection can produce new traits even though it can only act on existing variation, using examples from the text as appropriate.
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11.
Can natural selection produce perfect adaptation? Why or why not? Use examples to support your answer.
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12.
Why might evolution by natural selection be characterized as a random or chance process? In what sense is evolution non-random? Is evolution progressive? Justify your answer.
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13.
Can a trait arise "for the good of the species"? Explain.
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14.
Identify the three major problems that prevented the theory of natural selection from being widely accepted at the time it was initially proposed. Briefly explain the resolution of those problems. What is the Modern Synthesis, and how can Darwin's original postulates be restated in light of our understanding of modern genetics?
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15.
Describe Argument from Design as expressed by William Paley in Darwin's time and by Michael Behe in our own. Explain, in general terms, how random genetic mutation can lead to order, and how complex structures can evolve through the gradual Darwinian process of natural selection. What evidence do we have that Behe's views are incorrect?
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16.
Freeman and Herron identify four objections regularly used by creationists to oppose the teaching of evolution by natural selection. Identify those arguments and provide a brief refutation of each.
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