GATE Ecology and Evolution Evolution Syllabus

Evolution syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Evolution in GATE Ecology and Evolution, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   History of Evolutionary thought

   3 topics

   • Lamarckism
   • Darwinism
   • Modern Synthesis
2. 2

   Fundamentals

   5 topics

   • Variation
   • heritability
   • natural selection
   • fitness and adaptation
   • types of selection
     • stabilizing
     • directional
     • disruptive
3. 3

   Diversity of life

   3 topics

   • Origin and history of life on earth
   • diversity and classification of life
   • systems of classification
     • cladistics
     • phenetics
4. 4

   Life history strategies

   4 topics

   • Allocation of resources
   • tradeoffs
   • r/K selection
   • semelparity and iteroparity
5. 5

   Interactions

   2 topics

   • Co-evolution
     • co-adaptations
     • arms race
     • Red Queen hypothesis
     • co-speciation
   • prey-predator interactions
     • mimicry
     • crypsis
6. 6

   Population and Quantitative genetics

   9 topics

   • Origins of genetic variation
   • Mendelian genetics
   • Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
   • drift
   • selection
     • one-locus two-alleles model
   • population genetic structure
     • panmixia
     • gene flow
     • FST
   • polygenic traits
   • gene-environment interactions
     • phenotypic plasticity
   • heritability
7. 7

   Molecular evolution and phylogenetics

   5 topics

   • Neutral theory
   • molecular clocks
   • rates of evolution
   • phylogenetic reconstruction
   • molecular systematics
8. 8

   Macroevolution

   4 topics

   • Species concepts and speciation
   • adaptive radiation
   • convergence
   • biogeography

Evolution flashcards for GATE Ecology and Evolution

20 of 51 cards from the Evolution deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the core claim of Lamarckism (Lamarck's theory of evolution, 1809)?

   Evolution proceeds by the inheritance of acquired characteristics: organs strengthen with use and weaken with disuse (use and disuse), and these acquired modifications are passed to offspring, driven by an innate tendency toward complexity.

2. Name the two main principles of Lamarck's theory and give the classic textbook example.

   (1) Law of use and disuse and (2) inheritance of acquired characters. Classic example: the giraffe's long neck arising from generations stretching to reach high foliage.

3. Why was Lamarckism rejected, and which experiment is cited against it?

   Acquired (somatic) characters are not inherited; only germ-line changes pass on. Weismann's experiment of cutting off mouse tails for many generations produced no tailless offspring, refuting inheritance of acquired traits.

4. State the four key tenets of Darwinism (Darwin–Wallace theory of natural selection, 1859).

   (1) Overproduction of offspring, (2) heritable variation among individuals, (3) struggle for existence due to limited resources, and (4) survival and differential reproduction of the fittest (natural selection), leading to descent with modification.

5. What is the central title and one-line thesis of Darwin's 1859 book?

   "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection"; species arise and diversify through natural selection acting on heritable variation, producing descent with modification from common ancestors.

6. What is the Modern Synthesis (Neo-Darwinism)?

   The mid-20th-century integration of Darwinian natural selection with Mendelian genetics and population genetics, explaining evolution as changes in allele frequencies within populations driven by selection, mutation, migration, and genetic drift.

7. List the main architects of the Modern Synthesis and their contributions.

   Theodosius Dobzhansky (genetics + natural populations), Ernst Mayr (species concept/speciation), Julian Huxley (coined the term), George Gaylord Simpson (paleontology), G. Ledyard Stebbins (botany); founded on R. A. Fisher, J. B. S. Haldane, and Sewall Wright's population genetics.

8. In evolutionary terms, define a population's evolution under the Modern Synthesis.

   Evolution is the change in allele (gene) frequencies in a population over generations; the gene pool is the unit that evolves, not the individual.

9. What is variation, and what are its two broad sources?

   Variation is the differences in traits among individuals of a population. Sources: genetic variation (mutation, recombination, gene flow) and environmental (non-heritable, phenotypic) variation.

10. Distinguish continuous (quantitative) from discontinuous (qualitative) variation.

    Continuous variation shows a gradient of phenotypes controlled by many genes (polygenic, e.g., height) and is influenced by environment; discontinuous variation shows distinct categories controlled by one or few genes (e.g., blood groups).

11. What is the ultimate source of all new genetic variation?

    Mutation — heritable changes in DNA sequence. Recombination and independent assortment reshuffle existing alleles into new combinations but do not create new alleles.

12. Define heritability ($h^{2}$) in the broad and narrow sense.

    Broad-sense heritability $H^{2}=\frac{V_{G}}{V_{P}}$ is the proportion of phenotypic variance due to total genetic variance. Narrow-sense heritability $h^{2}=\frac{V_{A}}{V_{P}}$ uses only additive genetic variance and predicts response to selection.

13. Write the partition of total phenotypic variance used to define heritability.

    $$V_{P}=V_{G}+V_{E}=V_{A}+V_{D}+V_{I}+V_{E}$$ where $V_{A}$ is additive, $V_{D}$ dominance, $V_{I}$ epistatic (interaction), and $V_{E}$ environmental variance.

14. State the breeder's equation relating selection to evolutionary response.

    $$R=h^{2}S$$ where $R$ is the response to selection (change in mean per generation), $h^{2}$ is narrow-sense heritability, and $S$ is the selection differential.

15. Define the selection differential $S$ and the selection response $R$.

    $S$ is the difference between the mean phenotype of selected (breeding) individuals and the mean of the whole population before selection; $R$ is the difference between the offspring mean and the original parental population mean.

16. What is natural selection, and what three conditions must hold for it to occur?

    Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to heritable phenotypic differences. Conditions: (1) phenotypic variation, (2) heritability of that variation, and (3) variation in fitness associated with the trait.

17. Define Darwinian fitness.

    Fitness is the relative contribution of an individual's (or genotype's) genes to the next generation, measured by reproductive success (survival to reproduce and number of viable, fertile offspring) relative to other genotypes in the population.

18. Distinguish absolute fitness ($W$) from relative fitness ($w$).

    Absolute fitness is the actual number of offspring (or growth factor) of a genotype; relative fitness $w=\frac{W}{W_{max}}$ scales each genotype's fitness against the most-fit genotype, and the selection coefficient is $s=1-w$.

19. What is an adaptation in evolutionary biology?

    A heritable trait (structural, physiological, or behavioral) that increases an organism's fitness in its environment and arose and is maintained by natural selection because of its functional benefit.

20. Distinguish an adaptation from an exaptation.

    An adaptation evolved by selection for its current function; an exaptation is a trait that evolved for one function (or no function) and was later co-opted for a different current use (e.g., feathers for thermoregulation later used in flight).

See more Evolution flashcards →

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