D4.1 Natural Selection (SL)

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to biodiversity and natural selection, helping students prepare for their exam.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Natural Selection

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

Inherited Variation

Genetic differences among individuals in a population that are passed down from parents to offspring.

Survival of the Fittest

A phrase that describes how only the organisms best suited to their environment survive to reproduce.

Adaptation

A trait that increases an organism's fitness, making it better suited to its environment.

Genotype Frequency

The ratio of different genotypes in a population.

Germline Mutations

Mutations that occur in the reproductive cells, which can be passed to offspring.

Meiosis

A type of cell division that reduces the number of chromosomes, leading to the formation of gametes.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely.

Selection Pressure

Environmental factors that influence which individuals reproduce.

Sexual Selection

A mode of natural selection where certain traits increase an individual's chances of mating.

Fitness

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

Phenotype

The observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences.

Experimental Models

Controlled experiments designed to test hypotheses about natural selection and evolution.

Epigenetic Tags

Chemical modifications that affect gene expression and can be inherited without changing the DNA sequence.