Natural Selection Notes

Organisms and their environments change 1. What is the theory of evolution?

over time. The process by which living
organisms change over time is called the
theory of evolution.

A theory is a

scientific statement that is supported by 2. What does the theory of evolution

suggest?
observations and experiments. The theory
of evolution suggests that species change
through the process of natural selection.
Individual organisms within a species 3. What do individual organisms within a
species exhibit?
exhibit or show a range of variations or
differences in their inherited traits. These
differences

result

from

the

different

combinations of genetic codes that are 4. What causes these differences?

passed

on

from

parents

to

offspring.

Genetic variations that originate from

two parents can lead to variations in

5. What can genetic variations lead to?

successive generations of offspring.

In

some

cases,

genetic

variations

are 6. What else can cause genetic variations?

caused by a change in the genetic code, or

DNA itself. This type of change is called a
mutation. A mutation can be passed on to

7. What is this type of change called?

offspring if the mutation takes place in the

sex or reproductive cells of its parents. This
type

of

mutation

results

in

8. What kind of mutations can be passed

on to offspring?

offspring

inheriting different traits or characteristics

than their parents.

9. What are the possible results of a

mutation?

Natural Selection Notes

Mutations can result in unfavorable or 10. How do unfavorable changes affect
offspring?
favorable changes or adaptations in the
genetic code of offspring.
changes

in

offspring

Unfavorable

can

reduce

an

11. How do favorable changes affect

organisms ability to exist or survive in its offspring?
environment.

Favorable

changes

improve an organisms ability to survive in

its environment.
Favorable mutations can produce inherited 12. What do favorable mutations
sometimes produce?
structures, functions, or behaviors that
enable a species to survive and reproduce.
These

inherited

adaptations.

traits

are

called

13.

What are these inherited traits called?

Structural adaptations

include such things as body color, body

covering, and different types of body parts 14.
such as beaks and claws.

What are structural adaptations?

Functional

adaptations allow an organism to respond

to such things as extreme temperatures
and

lack

adaptations

of
are

water.
certain

15.

What are functional adaptations?

16.

What are behavioral adaptations?

Behavioral
activities

or

actions that living things do in response to

their environment in order to meet their
needs

for

protection.

food,

water,

Examples

shelter,
would

and

include

beavers slapping their tails and squirrels

chattering to warn when a predator is near.

Natural Selection Notes

When organisms inherit adaptations that 17. When organisms inherit favorable
adaptations, what are the results?
help them survive in their environment,
they are more likely to survive longer and
reproduce. As a result, their offspring may
inherit the same beneficial traits and pass 18. When organisms do not inherit
favorable adaptations, what are the results?
them on to the following generations. Over
a period of time, more and more organisms
within a population will have the favorable
traits.

Organisms that do not inherit the 19.

What is this process called?

beneficial traits may not survive as well or

live long enough to reproduce. This process
is called natural selection.
When a species does not have the traits it 20.

When does a species become extinct?

needs to survive in its environment, or to

survive

change

in

extinction may occur.

when

all

the

its

environment,

Extinction occurs

members

of

disappear from the Earth.

Changes in the environment
climate

changes,

21.

When does extinction occur?

species
such

as 22. What type of changes can bring about

changes in a species?
precipitation

changes, and habitat changes can bring

about changes in a species.

A common

misconception or mistaken belief is that 23. What is a common misconception

about species changes?
changes in the environment cause changes
in an organism that are then passed on to
offspring.

Instead, the species changes

that are the result of changes in the

environment are actually caused by the
process of natural selection.
These processes of species change have 24. Does it take long for the processes of
species change to occur?
occurred over long periods of time on the
Earth, which scientists believe may be close
3

Natural Selection Notes

to 4.6 billion years old. We have learned
25. How have we learned about the age
about the age of the Earth and its changing
of the Earth and its changing inhabitants?
inhabitants by studying rocks and the
remains of plants and animals preserved in
rocks. These remains are called fossils.
Fossils are usually found in sedimentary 26.

Where are fossils usually found?

rock which can contain organic materials

such as dead plants and animals.

Many

fossils form when organic materials are

27.

How are sedimentary rocks formed?

quickly buried by clay, sand, and other

sediments.

Fossil

remains

can

include

animal skeletons, shells, insects trapped in

amber, seeds, leaf imprints, dung, and
DNA.

28. What can sediments sometimes

contain?

Fossils provide scientists with a

record of organisms, species changes, and

events in Earths history.

There is a large

selection of fossils that have been found

29.

How do many fossils form?

30.

What can fossil remains contain?

31.

What do fossils provide to scientists?

and identified right here in the state of

Virginia.

In addition to the fossil record, the evidence 32. What other sources support the
theory of evolution?
for evolution comes from a variety of
sources.

Some

radiometric

these

dating,

information,
organisms,

of

the
and

developmental

include
genetic

distribution
anatomical
similarities

of
and

across
4

Natural Selection Notes

species.

Radiometric

dating

uses

radioactive 33.

How is radiometric dating used?

atoms to estimate how long ago rocks and

the

fossils

in

them

were

formed.

Radioactive atoms are atoms that release

34.

How does radiometric dating work?

many types of energy due to their unstable

nuclei.

Radiometric

dating

measures

radioactive atoms that became trapped in

igneous rock when it was in its molten form.
Over long periods of time these radioactive
atoms lose some of their energy and
change or decay into more stable atoms.
Radiometric dating measures the ratio of
unstable atoms to stable atoms to help
determine the age of the rock and any
fossils found in sedimentary rock nearby.
Scientists also use evidence from genetic 35. How is genetic information used to
support the theory of evolution?
information to support the theory of
evolution.

They compare the DNA of

different species and can tell how closely

they

are

related

by

similarities they find.

the

number

of

Scientists believe

that organisms with similar genes are

descended from a common ancestor.

For

example, scientists believe that bears and

raccoons come from a common ancestor
that lived over 40 million years ago.
5

Natural Selection Notes

The

distribution

organisms 36. How is the distribution of organisms

used to support the theory of evolution?
(biogeography) on Earth is also used as
evidence

for

the

of

theory

of

evolution.

Scientists have found that there is an

unequal distribution of organisms on Earth.
A species that is found in a particular
ecosystem, such as cacti in the deserts of
North America, is not found in a similar
ecosystem such as the deserts of Africa.
Scientists

believe

that

each

species

originated or began in one location and

from this point of origin spread out until it
was stopped by a physical geographic
barrier such an ocean, an environmental
barrier such as a colder climate, or an
ecological barrier such as competition from
another species.
Anatomical
and

developmental 37. How are anatomical and

developmental evidence used to support
evidence is also used to support the
the theory of evolution?
theory of evolution. Scientists study the
similarities
different
humans.

in

body

species

such

structure
as

Such similarities

among

whales
as

and

skeletal

structure provide evidence that two very

different organisms may have evolved from
6

common

ancestor.

evidence is also used.

developing

embryos

similarities

in

Natural Selection Notes

Developmental
Scientists study
and

early

look

for

development.

Similarities such as throat slits and tails in

developing

embryos

suggest

that

organisms being studied are related.

For

example, scientists have found remarkable

similarities

in

the

embryos

of

many

vertebrates such as turtles, fish, chickens,

pigs, and humans.