how do the many different species of moths and butterflies and their caterpillars offer examples of unity, diversity, and adaptations?

unity - juvenile feeding stage (caterpillar) diversity - caterpillar and adult forms adaptations - resemblance to fallen leaf

what does descent with modification mean?

family tree, species accumulate differences from their ancestors as they adapt to different environments over time

what is a fossil

mineralized skeletal material, sedimentary rock (strata), groundwork for Darwin's ideas

what can be learned from examining fossils

extinction events, new groups of organisms, changes within groups of organisms, transitions between species

list three different sources of information and observations that helped shape Darwin's thinking about the relationship between extinct and extent species

fossil evidence, observations on the Galapagos Islands, writings of Charles Lyell

describe artificial selection and give two examples

humans have modified other species, breeds for dairy, meat, and crops, livestock, and pets have little resemblance to ancestors

what was Darwin referring to when he observed that members of a population vary in inherited traits

ladybird beetles vary in color and spot pattern, natural selection may act on these variations only if they are heritable and affect ability to survive and reproduce

what led Darwin to observe that all species can produce more offspring than the environment can support?

puffball fungus, frogs

describe Darwin's first inference

many fail to survive/reproduce, some individuals have higher probability of surviving/reproducing, ones that inherit better traits leave more offspring

describe Darwin's second inference

unequal ability/success leads to accumulation of favorable traits

what does natural selection mean

individuals with most adaptive traits have higher chance of survival and reproduction, increased frequency of favorable adaptations, does not create new traits but edits/selects for existing ones

how do honeypot ants offer an example of natural selection, evolution, adaptation, and descent with modification

food may be scarce at certain points, so they adapt to store more food, survive as a colony, modified trait of repletism, genetic comp of ant changed: specialized replete caste became more frequent

what is convergent evolution

resemblance with a difference, evolution of similar (analogous) features, distantly related groups, similar environments, no ancestry

what is evolution

change in genetic composition of a population from generation to generation

what are analogous features

share similar function but not common ancestry

what are homologous features

share common ancestry but not similar function