Ap Bio Ch22 Vocab

Front 1

Evolution

Back 1

All the changes that have transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity that characterizes it today.

Front 2

Uniformitarianism

Back 2

Charles Lyell's idea that geologic processes have not changed throughout Earth's history.

Front 3

Homologous Structures

Back 3

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.

Front 4

Natural Selection

Back 4

Differential success in the reproduction of different phenotypes resulting from the interaction of organisms with their environment.

Front 5

Artificial Selection

Back 5

The selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits.

Front 6

Vestigial Organs

Back 6

A structure of marginal, if any, importance to an organism. They are historical remnants of structures that had important functions in ancestors.

Front 7

Taxonomy

Back 7

Ordered division of organisms into categories based on a set of characteristics used to assess similarties and differences, leading to a classification scheme.

Front 8

Evolutionary Adaptations

Back 8

An accumulation of inherited characteristics that enhance organisms' ability to survive and reproduce in specific environments.

Front 9

Descent with Modifications

Back 9

Darwin's initial phrase for the general process of evolution.

Front 10

Fossils

Back 10

A preserved remnant or impression of an organism that lived in the past.

Front 11

Biogeography

Back 11

The study of the past and present distruution of species.

Front 12

Ontogeny

Back 12

Describes the origin and the development of an organism from the fertilized egg to its mature form.

Front 13

Gradualism

Back 13

A view of Earth's history that attributed profound change to the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes.

Front 14

Homology

Back 14

Similarity in characteristics resulting from a shared ancestry.

Front 15

Phylogeny

Back 15

The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species.