Biology Flashcards

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evolution:

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the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth

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.species:

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the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

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variation

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a change or difference in condition, amount, or level, typically with certain limits.

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adaptation

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the action or process of adapting or being adapted.

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artificial selection

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The breeding of plants and animals to produce desirable traits

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heritability

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is the proportion of this total variation between individuals in a given population due to genetic variation.

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natural selection

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the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

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population

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all the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country.

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fitness

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the condition of being physically fit and healthy.

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homologous structure

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it's when very different animals have bones that appear very similar in form or function and seem to be related.

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Analogous Structures

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Structures of different species having similar or corresponding function but not from the same

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vestigial structure ‎

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A structure in an organism that has lost all or most of its original function in the course of evolution

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paleontology

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he branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.

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gene pool

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the stock of different genes in an interbreeding population.

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genetic drift

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variation in the relative frequency of different genotypes in a small population, owing to the chance disappearance of particular genes as individuals die or do not reproduce.

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convergent evolution

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the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.

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divergent evolution

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is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species

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co evolution

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the influence of closely associated species on each other in their evolution.

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extinction

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the state or process of a species, family, or larger group being or becoming extinct.

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punctuated equilibrium

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the hypothesis that evolutionary development is marked by isolated episodes of rapid speciation between long periods of little or no change.

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adaptive radiation

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the diversification of a group of organisms into forms filling different ecological niches.

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allele frequency

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measure of the relative frequency of an allele on a genetic locus in a population.

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microevolution

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measure of the relative frequency of an allele on a genetic locus in a population.