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Natural Selection
The process in which individuals with favorable inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce.
Microevolution
The change in allele frequencies in a population over many generations.
Adaptive trait
An inherited trait that makes an organism more fit for its environment.
Fitness
An organism's ability to survive and reproduce.
Niche
The role or function of an organism or species within an ecosystem.
Homologies
Similarities between species resulting from common ancestry.
Vestigial structure
Structures that once served important functions in ancestral species but have lost most, or all, of their original function.
Analogous structures
Similar features found in different species that are not the result of recent common ancestry.
Genetic drift
Changes in allele frequencies in a population due to random chance.
Founder effect
A phenomenon where a new population is established by a small number of individuals from a larger population.
Bottleneck effect
A drastic reduction in population size due to environmental events, leading to changes in allele frequencies.
Gene flow
The movement of alleles into or out of populations, which changes allele frequencies.
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
A state in which allele and genotype frequencies in a population remain constant across generations in the absence of evolutionary influences.
Common ancestor
A species from which two or more species evolved.
Sexual selection
A mode of natural selection where individuals with certain traits are more likely to successfully attract mates.
Directional selection
A type of natural selection that favors individuals at one end of the phenotypic range.
Disruptive selection
A type of natural selection that favors individuals at both extremes of the phenotypic range.
Stabilizing selection
A type of natural selection that favors intermediate variants and acts against extreme phenotypes.
Heterozygote advantage
When heterozygotes have higher fitness than both homozygotes, maintaining two or more alleles in the population.
Darwin's finches
A group of birds studied by Charles Darwin, which helped him develop his theory of evolution through natural selection.
Artificial selection
The process by which humans breed other animals and plants for particular traits.
Descent with modification
Darwin's term summarizing his idea of evolution, indicating that species change and adapt over time.
