BIO 012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Osteichthyes, Chondrichthyes, Convergent Evolution
Document Summary
In this course, the major evolutionary trait that we will look at as a class will be the presence of a vertebrate, a trait that has evolved somewhat recently within the grand scale of evolutionary history. There are ve major groups of vertebrates: mammals. Occum"s razor / parsimony- both words mean that the best explanation that ts the data best is the one with the fewest assumptions. There is no need for an elaborate explanation to the problem when a simpler one will also explain the pattern. Another way to remember: kiss (keep it simple, stupid) Homologous: any feature that is shared by two or more species and a known common ancestor. Analogous: nature solves a problem with a similar trait that evolved along different species lines that do not share a common ancestor. These types of traits may occur for two main reasons. Convergent evolution- super cially similar traits (i. e. mammal eyes and squid eyes)
