ARISH NIKADE - AP Biology MS Unit 7 Vocabulary (PART I)

Adaptation

An inherited trait that increases an organism's chance of survival and reproduction in a specific environment.

Alfred Wallace

A British naturalist who independently developed a theory of evolution by natural selection, prompting Darwin to publish his own work.

Allelic Frequency

The relative frequency of an allele (a variant of a gene) at a particular locus in a population.

Analogous Structures

Structures in different species that have similar functions but evolved independently, not from a common ancestor.

Artificial Selection

The selective breeding of plants and animals by humans to produce offspring with desired traits.

Bottleneck Effect

A sharp reduction in population size due to a chance event (e.g., a natural disaster), resulting in a loss of genetic diversity.

Carolus Linnaeus

A Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who formalized the modern system of binomial nomenclature (two-part naming) for classifying organisms.

Charles Darwin

A British naturalist who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, outlined in his book 'On the Origin of Species.'

Charles Lyell

A Scottish geologist who argued for uniformitarianism (the idea that geological processes operating today are the same as those that operated in the past), influencing Darwin's thinking about gradual change over long periods.

Common Ancestor

An ancestral species from which two or more descendant species evolved.

Common Descent

The principle that all living things share a common ancestor.

Competition

The struggle between organisms to survive and reproduce in a shared environment with limited resources.

Convergent Evolution

The independent evolution of similar features in different lineages, often due to similar environmental pressures.

Directional Selection

Natural selection that favors one extreme phenotype, causing a shift in the population's phenotypic distribution.

Disruptive Selection

Natural selection that favors both extreme phenotypes and selects against intermediate phenotypes.

Embryology

The study of the development of embryos, which can reveal similarities among species that indicate common ancestry.

Emigration

The movement of individuals out of a population to another population.

Endemic Species

A species that is found only in a specific geographic location.

Erasmus Darwin

Charles Darwin's grandfather, a physician, naturalist, and poet who proposed early ideas about evolution in his writings.

Evidence of Evolution

Supporting data for evolutionary theory, including fossils, comparative anatomy, embryology, biogeography, and molecular biology.

Fitness

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment, often measured by the number of offspring it produces.

Fossil

The preserved remains or traces of an organism from the past.

Founder's Effect

The loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.

Genetic Drift

Random fluctuations in allele frequencies due to chance events, especially in small populations.

Genotypic Frequency

The relative frequency of a genotype (the genetic makeup of an individual) in a population.

H/W Law (Hardy-Weinberg Law)

The mathematical equation (p² + 2pq + q² = 1) that describes the conditions under which a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

A principle stating that allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences.

Heterozygote Advantage

When individuals with a heterozygous genotype have a higher fitness than individuals with homozygous genotypes.

Homologous Structures

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry, even if they have different functions.

Immigration

The movement of individuals into a population from another population.

Lamarck (Jean-Baptiste Lamarck)

A French naturalist who proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics (e.g., giraffes stretching their necks and passing that trait on), which was later proven incorrect.

Macroevolution

Large-scale evolutionary changes, such as the origin of new species, genera, families, or higher taxonomic groups, occurring over long periods.

Microevolution

Changes in allele frequencies within a population over relatively short periods.

Natural Selection

The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. It's driven by variations, inheritance, and differential reproductive success.

Peppered Moth

A classic example of natural selection, where the frequency of dark-colored moths increased in industrial areas due to pollution and then decreased as pollution was reduced.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area and capable of interbreeding.

Population Genetics

The study of how allele frequencies change in populations over time.

Sexual Selection

A form of natural selection in which individuals with certain inherited traits are more likely to obtain mates.

Stabilizing Selection

Natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes and selects against extreme phenotypes.

Transition Fossil

A fossil that exhibits traits intermediate between those of ancestral and derived species, providing evidence of evolutionary transitions.

Variation

Differences in traits among individuals within a population.

Vestigial Structures

Reduced or non-functional structures in an organism that were functional in its ancestors.