Term Definition

Clade A group of organisms that evolved from a common ancestor

Allopatric speciation Occur in different geographical areas and have physical barriers

Sympatric speciation Occurs in same geographical area and have behavioural barriers

Describe the major physical features that define humans as primates

- Opposable thumb
- Rotating forelimb
- Three planar shoulder movement
- Stereoscopic vision
- Large brain
- Smaller jaw
- Nails instead of claws
- Tailless primate

Using the concept of gene pool, explain briefly how population of early
vertebrates could have evolved into different groups
- Gene pool is all alleles
- Geographical isolation
- Gene pool split if populations are reproductively isolated
- In different environments there are different selection pressures
- Allele frequenties change

Outline the evidence provided by DNA for the common ancestry of living
organisms
- All living organisms use DNA as genetic material
- Genetic code is universal
- Idea that mutations accumulate gradually in DNA

Distinguish Archaea from eubacteria

- DNA with histones/ DNA without histones
- Usually have introns/ Seldom have introns
- Cell walls lack glycoprotein/ Cell walls with glycoprotein
- Found in extreme environments/ Not in extreme environments
- Ribosomes are different

List two types of evidence used to determine which species belong in the
same clade
- DNA
- Amino acid sequences
Explain the conclusions about evolution that can be drawn from the
universality of DNA and protein structures and variations in specific
molecules
- Universality of DNA means all organisms share same DNA nucleotides
- Universality of protein structures means same amino acids in polypeptides
- Amino acids placed in proteins according to DNA base sequence
- Shows common ancestry
- Variations in specific molecules are the results of mutations
- Mutations result from change in nucleotide sequence
- Accumulation of mutations cause organisms to diverge from common ancestry
- Can be tracked down to show ancestry
- Can be used to estimate evolution times

Explain the biochemistry evidence provided by DNA and proteins

structures for the common ancestry of living organisms
- DNA is universal
- Same four bases adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine
- Always pairing of A T and C G
- Same structure of double helix of complementary strands
- Use the same 20 amino acids in their proteins
- All left handed
- Similar enzymes in processes of replication/transcription/translation
- Small difference in DNA show closer relationships
- Cytochrome C/Gene structure show relationships among organisms
- Humans have the same biochemistry as all organisms so part of same evolution
- Mitochondrial DNA used to determine maternal lines
- Mitochondria structures indicate common lines of evolution

Explain cladistics as a method of classifying organisms

- Cladistics uses cladograms
- Shows clades that begin at a point
- Each clade includes a common ancestral organism and all its descendants
- Members of a clade share inherited characteristics
- Clades are subsets of larger clades
- Cladograms show evolutionary history
- Branch length can indicate amount of genetic change
- Clades based on genetic evidence differ in amino acid sequences
- Fewest number of differences determines branch separation
- Predictability of DNA base changes suggest evolutionary timelines
- Problems arise when gene changes varies from one gene to the next
- Cladograms may not match traditional classification
- Prompts reclassification of a group

Explain the usefulness of natural classification in biodiversity research

- Allows easy identification of a species
- It can help identify common ancestry
- It is universal
- It allows biodiversity research of larger taxonomy