ANT-1430 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Botany, Punctuated Equilibrium, Heredity
Document Summary
Species change and have changed over time. Normally small scale changes, short time period. Calculated the age of the earth from the bible. Do not interbreed and produce viable offspring. Developed first formal classification system of all known living organisms. Included humans in his classification of animals. A similar feature in two or more species that is the result of common descent. A similar feature between organisms with similar function but not common descent. The process of independent evolution of similar features from different features in their last common ancestor. Nature as a dynamic system of processes. External environment as an agent of change in species. Similarity between organisms was related to the fact of common inheritance. Stressed importance of interactions between organisms and their environment. Evolution occurred through a natural process of organisms adjusting to environment. A trait acquired by an animal during its lifetime can be transmitted to its offspring, giving rise to new forms and new species.
