Bio

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a group of the same kind of organisms in some specified area

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population

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includes all populations of all species in some specified area

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community

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a community interacting with its environment

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ecosystem

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encompasses all regions of Earth's crust, waters, and atmosphere in which organisms live

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biosphere

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different kinds of organisms

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species

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one or more species grouped on the basis of a number of unique shared traits

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genus

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single cells that are prokaryotic (no nucleus)

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archea and bacteria

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multicelled, photosynthetic producers

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plants

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multicelled comsumers that secrete enzymes that digest food outside the body, and then their individual cells absorb the digested nutrients

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fungi

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multicelled consumers that ingest the tissues of other organisms

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animals

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changes in DNA that lead to new traits

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mutations

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heritable change in a line of descent

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evolution

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a proposal that explains the cause of something that is observable

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hypothesis

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a statement of what you should find in the natural world if you were to go out looking for it

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prediction

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making observations, conducting an experiment, or formulating a model

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test

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theoretical, detailed descriptions of partially-understood processes

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models

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the hypothesis is consistent with all of the data that has been collected and it is now used to make different predictions

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scientific theory

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a feature of an object or event that may differ over time or among the representatives of that object or object

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variable

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a standard for comparison with one or more experimental groups. There are 2 kinds.

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control group

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a case of looking like something else and confusing predators or prey

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mimicry

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data taken from a sample might differ from data taken from the whole. This difference is called...

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sampling error

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organized systems of retrieving info about how species fit in the big picture of living things

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classification systems

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family, order, phylum, and kingdom

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higher taxa

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all prokaryotes are assigned to the kingdoms Bacteria and Archea, and all single-celled eukaryotes to kingdom Protista. Animals, plants, and fungi are separate kingdoms

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six-kingdom classification system

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the three highest taxa are Bacteria, Archea, and Eukarya

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three-domain system

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each set of species descended from just one ancestral species

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monophyletic group or clade

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a novel feature that evolved only in one species and is present only in its descendants

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derived trait

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RNA is a template for protein synthesis

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RNA world

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simple membrane sacs that could surround and protect info-storing templates and metabolic events

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proto-cells

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lasted from 3.8 billion to 2.5 billion years ago

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Archean eon

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have no nucleus

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prokaryotic cells

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some populations diverged in 2 major directions

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Bacteria and the shared ancestor of Archea and Eukaryotic cells

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bacteria that formed flattened mats through photosynthesis. These mats are called...

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stromatolites

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a donor cell's sex pilus latches onto a recipient cell and then retracts, pulling it close

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prokaryotic conjugation

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a small, self-replicating circle of DNA with just a few genes

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plasmid

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infectious, disease-causing agents invade target species and multiply in or on them

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pathogen

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the transfer of genetic info between cells (often of different species) by conjugation or some other process

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lateral gene transfer

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archea that are salt lovers. Most are aerobic

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halophiles

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archea that live in oxygen-free habitats (wetland mud, gut of mammals, and hydrothermal vents). All are anaerobic

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methanogens

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archea that thrive in temperatures above 80 degrees censius. All are anaerobic

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Thermophiles

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stone-hard evidence of earlier forms of life

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fossils

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a single time of creation that populated the entire world. Major catastrophes killed species but the survivors repopulated the world

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Catastrophism

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gradual, uniformly repetitive change in the landscape of the world

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uniformity

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an individual's success in a given environment, as measured by its relative contribution to future generations

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fitness

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a random change in allele frequencies over time, brought about by chance alone

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genetic drift

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when all of the individuals of a population have become homozygous for one allele only at a locus

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fixation

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a drastic reduction in population size brought about by selection pressure or a calamity

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bottleneck

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a few individuals leave a population and establish a new colony elsewhere

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founder effect

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mating between close relatives, which share many identical alleles

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inbreeding

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a physical flow of alleles between populations

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gene flow

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units of DNA info about traits, transmitted from parents to offspring

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gene

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different molecular forms of the same gene

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alleles

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offspring of a cross between 2 individuals that breed true for different forms of a trait

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hybrids

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a pair of dominant alleles (AA)

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homozygous dominant

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a pair or recessive alleles (aa)

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homozygous recessive

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a pair of nonidentical alleles (Aa)

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heterozygous

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the range of small differences in many traits in a population

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continuous variation

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this curve is typical of any trait that shows continuous variation

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bell-curve

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substance that is large and acidic and contains nitrogen and phosphorus

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DNA

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viruses that infect bacteria

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bacteriophages

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atoms in the molecules scatter the x-rays in a pattern that can be captured on film

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x-ray diffraction image

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an organism into which DNA from another species has been inserted

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transgenic

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transferring an organ from one species to another

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xenotransplantation

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some heritable aspect of form, function, behavior, or development that improves the odds for surviving and reproducing in a given environment

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adaptation

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The first step of protein synthesis - when a gene serves as a template for making RNA (can make mRNA, rRNA, or tRNA)

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transcription

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The second step of protein synthesis - the genetic info carried by a strand of RNA is decoded into a sequence of amino acids that is assembled into a new polypeptide chain

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translation

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the only class of RNA that carries protein building instructions

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messenger RNA (mRNA)

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RNA that is a component of ribosomes (a large molecular structure upon which polypeptide chains are builtI

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ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

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RNA that delivers amino acids one at a time to a ribosome

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transfer RNA (tRNA)

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toxins that some microorganisms in soil release to kill bacterial competitors for nutrients

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natural antibiotics

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the formation of sedimentary rock layers

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stratification

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one line of descent

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lineage

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used to calculate a sample's age

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radiometric dating

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the time it takes for half of a radioisotope's (an atom of an element with an unstable nuclues) atoms to decay

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half-life

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a chronology of Earth's history

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geologic time scale

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major patterns, trends, and rates of change among lineages

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macroevolution

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a supercontinent that comprised most of the land on earth 420 million years ago

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Gondwana

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260 million years ago, Gondwana had joined with all other major land masses to become this supercontinent

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Pangea

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model used to estimate relative times of divergences by comparing the number of neutral mutations in the DNA of different species

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molecular clock

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the study of body forms and structures of major groups of organisms

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comparative morpology

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similarities in one or more body parts, which hint at inheritence from a shared ancestor

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homologous structures

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change from the body form of a common ancestor

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morphological divergence

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when dissimilar body parts evolved in similar ways in evolutionary distant lineages (ex: birds, bats, and insects all have wings but they are not related species)

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morphological convergence

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structural adaptations that are the result of similar challenges in the environment, but they are derived from dissimilar body parts of distantly-related lineages (bird, bat, and insect wing)

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analogous structures

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a concept that says that populations belong to the same species as long as their members share traits that allow them to interbreed and produce fertile offspring

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biological species concept

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After gene flow has stopped entirely, mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift begin to operate independently in each isolated population until their gene pools change. Can lead to new species

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genetic divergence

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the process by which a new species arises

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speciation

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after gene flow has ended, these heritable aspects of body form, function, or behavior prevent interbreeding between divergent populations

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reproductive isolating mechanisms

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genetic changes that lead to a new species often arise after a physical separation occurs between populations

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allopatric speciation

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a species may form within the home range of an existing species, in the absense of a physical barrier

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sympatric speciation

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when individuals inherit 3 or more sets of chromosomes characteristic of their species

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polyploidy

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when populations that are maintaining contact along a common border become distinct species

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parapatric speciation

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when a lineage splits, the population become genetically isolated and they diverge

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cladogenesis

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one species can evolve into another species without branching through mutations and changes in allele frequencies

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anagenesis

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a drawing that summarizes info about the continuity of relationships among groups

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evolutionary trees

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model that says that species originate by small changes over long time spans

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gradual model of speciation

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model that explains for different patterns (rapid then gradual) of speciation

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punctuation model of speciation

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a burst of divergences from a single lineage. It gives rise to many new species

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adaptive radiation

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A set of different niches that become filled typically with by a related group of species. Adaptive radiation requires these

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adaptive zones

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A way for a species to enter an adaptive zone: a chance modification in some body structure or function gives it the opportunity to exploit the new environment more efficiently

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key innovation

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an irrevable loss of a species

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extinction

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catastrophic losses of entire families or other groups

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mass extinction