AP BIO MS UNIT 7 VOCAB (I AND II)

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.

3 Domains

Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Eukarya.

6 Kingdoms

Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia.

Absolute Dating

Scientific methods used to determine the exact age of a fossil, rock, or archaeological artifact by measuring the radioactive decay of isotopes, providing a specific chronological age.

Adaptive Radiation

a process where a single species or small group of species rapidly diversifies into many new species

Allopatric Speciation

a type of speciation where a population becomes geographically isolated, leading to the evolution of distinct species due to the absence of gene flow between the isolated groups

Ancestral Characteristic

Traits that were present in a common ancestor of a group of organisms and are inherited by all of its descendants.

Behavioral Isolation

females only choose mates that are different from other populations which prevents the populations from interbreeding

Binomial Nomenclature

A system for naming species using a two-part scientific name, consisting of the genus and species, typically in Latinized form.

Biological Evolution

The change in the inherited traits of populations of organisms over successive generations, driven by mechanisms like natural selection, genetic drift, and mutation.

BSC

groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups, meaning they can produce viable, fertile offspring, but not with members of other species

Chemical Evolution

The gradual formation of increasingly complex organic molecules from simpler inorganic molecules through chemical reactions.

Cladistics

A method of classifying organisms based on their evolutionary relationships, grouping them into clades (groups of organisms descended from a common ancestor) using shared, derived characteristics.

Cladogram

A branching diagram that illustrates hypothetical relationships among different groups of organisms based on shared characteristics.

Classification

The process of arranging organisms, both living and extinct, into groups based on similar characteristics.

Continental Drift (Plate Tectonics)

Describes the idea that Earth's continents were once part of a single supercontinent (Pangaea) and have moved to their current positions over millions of years.

Derived Characteristic

A trait that has evolved from an ancestral form and is unique to a particular group or lineage, distinguishing it from other groups.

Divergent Evolution

the process where two or more related species become increasingly dissimilar over time, often due to adapting to different environments or ecological niches, potentially leading to the formation of new species.

Ecological Isolation

populations choose different habitats to live which prevents the populations from interbreeding

Endosymbiotic Hypothesis

Proposes that some eukaryotic organelles, like mitochondria and chloroplasts, originated as free-living prokaryotes that were engulfed by early eukaryotic cells, forming a symbiotic relationship that led to their evolution into organelles.

Gametic Isolation

gametes are not able to fuse from different populations which prevents the populations from interbreeding

Geographic Isolation

physical barrier preventing breeding between populations

Gradualism

A pattern of evolution characterized by slow, continuous, and directional change over long periods.

Homologous Structures

Structures in different species that are similar due to shared ancestry.

Hox Genes

A group of related genes that play a crucial role in animal development by specifying the body plan along the head-to-tail axis, ensuring that structures form in the correct places.

Hybrid Vigor

when a hybrid has stronger traits because any deleterious traits are balanced out by the genetics of the other species

Iron-Sulfur World

Suggests that life originated on the surface of iron sulfide minerals near hydrothermal vents, where complex chemical reactions catalyzed by these minerals led to the emergence of metabolism-first life.

LUCA

Last Universal Common Ancestor, the hypothesized single-celled organism from which all known life on Earth is believed to have descended.

Mass Extinction

A period of dramatically increased extinction rates, where a large percentage of Earth's species disappear within a relatively short geological time frame.

Mechanical Isolation

populations can't physically exchange gametes which prevents the populations from interbreeding

Miller Experiment

Simulated the conditions of early Earth and demonstrated the possibility of organic molecules, including amino acids, forming from inorganic compounds through chemical reactions.

Molecular Clock

A method used to estimate the time of evolutionary events by comparing the differences in DNA or protein sequences between species, assuming mutations accumulate at a relatively constant rate.

Phylogenetic Tree (Phylogeny)

A diagram that depicts the evolutionary relationships among different species, organisms, or genes, showing how they are related through a common ancestor.

Postzygotic Isolating Mechanisms

barriers that prevent offspring from different populations from growing or breeding. Hybrid inviability and sterility

Prezygotic Isolating Mechanisms

barriers that prevent different populations from successfully mating

Primordial Soup

The hypothetical, early Earth environment of a water body rich in organic compounds from which scientists believe the first life forms evolved.

Principle of Parsimony

Suggests that the simplest explanation, or the one requiring the fewest evolutionary changes, is the most likely to be true, especially when constructing phylogenetic trees.

Protein First

A theory that proposes proteins were the first biomolecules to appear in the evolution of life on Earth.

Punctuated Equilibrium

The idea that evolution occurs in spurts instead of following the slow, but steady path.

Relative Dating

A method used to determine the chronological order of events and objects, establishing which is older or younger relative to others, without assigning specific numerical ages.

Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms

a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different populations from producing offspring, or ensure that any offspring are sterile/inviable

RNA First

The RNA world hypothesis proposes that RNA, rather than DNA or proteins, was the primary form of genetic material and played a crucial role in the early evolution of life, potentially serving as both a carrier of genetic information and a catalyst for chemical reactions.

Speciation

the evolutionary process where new species arise from a single ancestral species, typically through reproductive isolation and genetic divergence

Sterility

when two populations produce a zygote that is infertile and not able to breed

Sympatric Speciation

the evolution of a new species from a surviving ancestral species, where both continue to inhabit the same geographic region without geographical isolation

Systematics

The scientific study of the diversity of organisms and their evolutionary relationships.

Taxonomy

The science of classifying, naming, and describing organisms, including studying their relationships and the principles underlying such classification.

Temporal Isolation

populations breed at different times which prevents the populations from interbreeding

Zygote Mortality

zygote inviability, when two populations produce a zygote that is not able to survive to maturity