bio 330 test 1

Evolution

Changes in inherited traits of a population that occurs over generations

Viral reasortment

When genetic material from different strains is mixed into new combinations within a single cell

Biological evolution

Any change in the inherited traits of a population that occurs from one generation to the next

Genetic drift

Random effects leading to evolution

Phylogeny

Visual representation of evolutionary history

Morphology

Form and structure of an organism

Homology

Similarities between species from the same ancestors (broad spectrum)

Synapomorphy

Derived from a trait from a common ancestor (more specific)

Clade

Group of organisms with the same common ancestor

Sympatry

Process that occurs when populations are in the same geographic area

Genus

Taxonomic group that includes species

Mutation

Any change to the genetic sequence of an organism

Taxon

Group of organisms that a taxonomist judges to be a cohesive taxonomic unit

Taxonomy

The science of describing, naming, and classifying species of living or fossil organisms

Stratigraphy

The study of laying in rock

Natural selection

Mechanism that can lead to adaptive evolution, differences in the phenotypes of individuals cause some of them to survive and reproduce more effectively than others and outcompete them

Artificial selection

Selective breeding of animals and plants to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits

Heredity

Transmission from parent to offspring