natural selection

Adaptation

Process by population should become better suited to its environment

Overproduction

Species produces more offspring and the environment can support many of the offspring will not survive into adulthood

Generations

Organisms of the same species that are at the same level of descent from a common ancestor

Genetic variation

The result of the reproductive process involving two parents whose genetic material is combined to produce a new organism from themselves

Natural selection

Process by which organisms favorable traits produce more successful offspring than organisms with less favorable trait, causing the favorable trait to become more common in the population

Population

A group of interacting individuals of the same species located in the same area

Trait

A characteristic that an organism that can be inherited or acquire

Fitness

Ability to survive and reproduce

Competition

More than one individual or population in an ecosystem that relies upon limited resources

Adaptive divergence

New species that form as a result of adaptations to different environments that all originated from a common ancestor

Species

A group of organisms with the similar characteristics that are able to breed and produce an offspring