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Artificial selection

The process by which humans breed organisms for desired traits.

Homology

Similarities in anatomy or molecular structure between species due to a shared common ancestor.

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

Comparative morphology

The comparison of the structures of different organisms to understand evolutionary relationships.

Speciation

The evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species.

Natural selection

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

Microevolution

Small-scale evolutionary changes within a species or population.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

A principle that describes a non-evolving population, where allele frequencies remain constant from generation to generation.

Allopatric speciation

Speciation that occurs when biological populations are physically isolated.

Sympatric speciation

Speciation that occurs when populations of a species that share the same habitat become reproductively isolated.

Reproductive isolation

The inability of species to breed and produce viable offspring due to various barriers.

Vestigial structures

Body parts that have lost their original function through evolution.

Transitional fossils

Fossils that show intermediate forms between different groups of organisms.

Phylogenetic tree

A diagram that represents evolutionary relationships among various biological species or entities.

Endosymbiosis

A theory that explains the origin of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic organisms, where one organism lives inside another.

Adaptive radiation

The rapid evolution of diversely adapted species from a common ancestor in response to the availability of new resources or niches.

Gene flow

The transfer of genetic variation from one population to another.