Classification of Living Organisms and Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Vocabulary flashcards covering the classification of living organisms, taxonomy, and key principles of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Taxonomy

The branch of biology that classifies organisms and assigns each organism a universally accepted name.

Classification system

A system used by biologists to name organisms and group them in a logical manner in order to study the diversity of life.

Natural selection

The process causing species to change over time, wherein individuals that are best suited to their environment survive, reproduce, and pass their traits on to their offspring.

Descent with modification

The evolutionary principle that the species alive on Earth today have descended from ancestral species that lived in the past.

Intense competition

The struggle for limited resources, such as food, water, and shelter, that arises because more organisms are produced than can survive.

Number of described species

A total of 1.5 million species that scientists have described and named, with millions of additional species estimated to remain unidentified.

3.5 billion years

The duration for which life on Earth has been constantly changing, during which natural selection has led to a staggering diversity in organisms.

Floats & animals

Organism groups referenced in the classification and study of living organisms.