Variation under Domestication Vocabulary

Flashcards covering the vocabulary from Chapter 1 of 'Variation under Domestication'.

Domesticated life forms

Life forms that have been bred and raised by humans. Darwin observed that they are highly variable.

Vera causa principle

A principle that states a theory should be established after determining a potential 'true cause' for a set of observations

Variability

The ability of living things to differ or change.

Correlation of Growth

Selection for a trait will modify other parts of the structure.

Reversion

The action of an organism reverting to an ancestral type.

Isolation

New varieties have to be isolated or else they will be lost at once through interbreeding.

Artificial Selection

Selection that is imposed by humans for desired traits.

Natural Selection

The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Speciation

The formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.

Gene Pool

The complete set of genetic information within a population.

Adaptation

A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

Mutation

A change in the DNA sequence that may lead to variations in traits.

Coevolution

The process by which two or more species influence each other's evolution.

Extinction

The end of an organism or a group of organisms, leading to the loss of biodiversity