biology B1 (7)

Evolution of life

• Classification is the organisation of living things into group according to their similarities
• The 5 kingdoms are animalia, plantae, fungi, bacteria and archaea
• Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species
• A species is a group of organisms sharing characteristics which can interbred to produce fertile offspring

Evidence for evolution

• Fossils show us that there have been other species on earth than the ones we see today, as that they have changed over time
• We can also see from breeding species, such as dogs, that the characteristics we select can be changed over time
• These are two lines of evidence for the theory of evolution, but they don’t help us understand how to change happens

Darwin’s deductions

• Organisms produce more offspring than are able to survive
• There is variation in the characteristics shown by an organism within a population
• There is a struggle for survival
• Those who survive and reproduce will pass on their genes to the next generation

Natural selection

• Variation exists in the population due to genetic mutation
• Struggle for survival due to a selection pressure
• Survival of the fittest to be able to reproduce
• Advantageous genes and characteristics passed onto to offspring
• Repeated over generations so most of the population have the successful characteristics

Theories…