Darwin vocab

Evolution

The change in organisms changes over time

Artificial selection

Nature provides variation in traits and humans breed the traits that are useful

Plate tectonics

Theory of earth’s crust being comprised of several continuously moving plates

Natural selection

Changes in the inherited traits of a population overtime to improve fitness within their environment

Direct fossil

A geologic specimen that had been formed in a cast made by a living organism

Uniformitarianism

The earth has changed overtime by the same forces we observe it changing today

Adaptation

An inheritance trait that represents a change in an organism, improving its chances of survival and reproduction

Fossil record

Comparing fossils from older layer of rock as evidence of evolution of life

Indirect Fossil

A preserved specimen made by an organism (ex. Nest, footprint, scat)

Acquired trait

The characteristic developed in an individual as a result of environmental influence (can’t be inherited)

Gradualism

The modern earth has formed by a series of small gradual changes over a long period of time and continues to change

Varition

The differences in the traits expressed by members of a population

Embryonic similarities

In early developmental stages many species resemble their ancestors

Analogous structure

Organisms that use different structures as an adaptation to similar habitats

Vestigial organs

Organs that are reduced or no longer needed but are evidence of their existence in ancestors

Homologous structures

Ancestral structures that have evolved differently as a imals adapt to different animals