Study Questions - Lamarck to Darwin
1) Lamarck concluded that organisms evolve. How did he use this conclusion to support his theology of a perfect creation?
2) Describe Lamarcks mechanism of evolutionary change.
3) St. Hilaire made an important contribution by linking morphological divergence to environmental pressure. Explain.
4) What is 'uniformitarianism', whio was the primary proponent, and what foundation did this create in Darwin's mind about biological change?
5) What two paleontological patterns did Darwin emphasize?
6) What are homologous structures and how did Darwin explain them?
7) What are analogous structures and how did Darwin explian them?
8) Why were vestigial structure particularly important to Darwin's rejection of supernatural origins for life?1) What are convergent communities and what did they suggest to Darwin?
9) What did the types of animals that dominate the Galapagos suggest about where they came from?
10) What did Gould's conclusions about the Galapagos mockingbirds lead Darwin to ponder?
11) What is Darwin's argument for evolution as historical fact?
12) Give three reasons why this was also more palatable to him theologically.
13) How was the study of domesticated organisms important to Darwin's ideas?
14) What was MAlthus's argument that so impressed Darwin?
15) Outline Natural Selection as three premises, three conclusions, and a corollary.
16) How did Darwin address Paley's watchmaker analogy?
17) What was Darwin's explanation for the lack of a continuous sequence of fossils? How about for the lack of a continuous sequence of living species between morphological extremes?
18) Outline Darwin's model of evolution (source, agents, etc.)