Evolution Vocab

Biodiversity

The variety of living things in an area or on Earth.

Variation

Differences in traits among individuals of the same species.

Biogeography

The study of where organisms live now and where their ancestors lived in the past.

Species vary locally

Related species in different habitats have different adaptations.

Species vary globally

Similar habitats in different parts of the world may contain different species.

Species vary over time

Fossils show that organisms have changed throughout Earth's history.

Hutton's hypothesis

The Earth is very old and changes gradually through geological processes.

Lyell's hypothesis

The same geological processes occurring today also occurred in the past over long periods.

Lamarck's hypothesis

Organisms change through use and disuse, and acquired traits are passed to offspring.

Inheritance of acquired characteristics

Lamarck's idea that traits acquired during an organism's lifetime can be inherited.

Use and disuse

Lamarck's idea that frequently used structures become stronger while unused structures weaken.

Malthus' theory

Populations grow faster than resources, causing competition and a struggle for survival.

Artificial selection

Humans breed organisms for desired traits.

Natural selection

The process in which organisms with advantageous inherited traits survive and reproduce more successfully.

Overproduction

Producing more offspring than can survive.

Struggle for existence

Competition among organisms for limited resources.

Heritable variation

Genetic differences among individuals that can be passed to offspring.

Adaptation

An inherited trait that improves an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Fitness

An organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Common ancestry

The idea that different species descended from shared ancestors.

Evolution

Changes in the inherited traits of a population over generations.

Homologous structures

Structures with similar underlying anatomy due to common ancestry, even if their functions differ.

Closely related but different species

Species with common ancestors that developed different adaptations in different environments.

Distantly related but similar species

Species that independently evolved similar traits because they live in similar environments.

Convergent evolution

The independent evolution of similar traits in distantly related species.

Galapagos finches

Finches with different beak shapes adapted to different food sources.

Grants' investigation

Research showing that changes in food availability favored certain finch beak sizes and that inherited variation affected survival.

Genetic variation

Differences in DNA and inherited traits among individuals in a population.

Gene pool

All the alleles of all genes in a population.

Allele

A version of a gene.

Speciation

The formation of new species.

Geographic isolation

When physical barriers separate populations and prevent them from regularly interbreeding.

Reproductive isolation

When populations can no longer successfully interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Behavioral isolation

Differences in courtship or mating behaviors prevent interbreeding.

Temporal isolation

Differences in breeding times prevent populations from interbreeding.

Mechanical isolation

Differences in reproductive structures prevent successful mating.

Gametic isolation

Reproductive cells cannot fuse to form a zygote.

Habitat isolation

Populations live in different habitats and rarely encounter one another to mate.

Gradualism

The idea that evolution occurs through the slow, continuous accumulation of small changes.

Punctuated equilibrium

The idea that species experience long periods of little change interrupted by relatively brief periods of rapid evolutionary change.

Macroevolution

Large-scale evolutionary patterns and changes, including speciation and extinction.

Adaptive radiation

The rapid evolution of many species from a common ancestor, each adapted to different environments or niches.

Coevolution

When two or more species influence each other's evolution through their interactions.

Extinction

The permanent disappearance of a species.

Sedimentary Rock

layers of rock in earths crust, new layers settle over old ones so you can find age of fossils

Transition Fossils

structures that show the connection between two unrelated species

comparative embryology

similarities between species seen in embryos, similar DNA and everything is related

Comparative Molecular Genetics

comparing DNA sequencing by DNA mapping

Microevolution

occurring on small scale, generational change in one population w/ No reproductive isolation

Struggle of Existence

overpopulation means more offspring are produced than can survive in the environment so there is intra specific competition due to limited resources

Analogous Structures

share common function but different structure