Chapter 16 & 17 Biology Vocab

chemical evolution

the production of molecules that were able to act as templates to form similar molecules by random inorganic chemical interactions (rise of organic molecules from inorganic molecules)

heterotroph

an organism that cannot produce its own food and must depend on an outside source for nutrients

autotroph

an organism that has the ability to produce their own food

photosynthesis

the process in which energy from the sun is used to produce organic molecules that can be used to power the metabolism of an organism

metabolism

all of the chemical reactions that occur within an organism

endosymbiosis

The process by which cells with complex internal compartments arose

plates

forty kilometer thick components of Earth's Crust that float on the mantle

mantle

the fluid that the solid plates of earth's crust float on

continental drift

the movement of plates and the continents they contain

mass extinctions

the dying out of a large number of species within a relatively short period of time

pangea

supercontinent formed 275 million years ago by a massive eruption which triggered in a massive glaciation

glacier

an extended mass of ice formed from snow falling and accumulating

meteorite

the remains of rock from space

Bipedalism

Having anatomy suitable for standing/walking erect on two legs

biota

all living organisms including flora and fauna

systematics

the scientific study of the diversity of living organisms and their relationships including both taxonomy and phylogeny

phylogenetic tree

a graphic representation of the lines of descent among organisms

phylogeny

evolutionary relationships of a group of organisms

ancestral trait

a trait shared by a group of organisms as a result of descent from a common ancestor

derived trait

a trait found among members of a lineage that was not present in ancestors of that lineage

taxon

a taxonomic unit at any given level of classification

monophyletic taxon

A single ancestor that can give rise to all species of a taxon

polyphyletic taxon

species of a taxon could come from two or more ancestor forms

paraphyletic taxon

When a taxon can exclude species that share a common ancestor that gave rise to that species in that taxon

clade

monophyletic group of organisms consisting of a common ancestor and all of its descendants forming a distinct branch on a phylogenetic tree

cladistics

school of systematics that used derived traits to determine monophyletic groups and construct cladograms

cladogram

branching diagram in cladistics that shows relationships among species in regard to their shared derived traits

taxonomy

the science of naming and classifying organisms

binomial nomenclature

a two word system of naming (genus species)(underlined or parentheses)

species

a group of organisms that can interbreed under natural conditions

archaebacteria

domain or kingdom of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls without peptidoglycan that can be autotrophic or heterotrophic

eukarya

Domain of all organisms whose cells have nuclei, including protists, plants, fungi, and animals and can be heterotrophic or autotrophic

protista

a kingdom of unicellular and multicellular eukaryotic organisms with mixed cell structure that can be heterotrophic or autotrophic

plantae

Kingdom of multicellular eukaryotic organisms that have cell walls containing cellulose that are autotrophic

animalia

kingdom of multicellular eukaryotic organisms whose cells do not have cell walls that are heterotrophic

fungi

a kingdom of unicellular and multicellular eukaryotic organisms with a cell wall made of chitin that are heterotrophic

eubacteria

Domain of unicellular prokaryotes whose cell walls are made up of peptidoglycan that can be heterotrophic or autotrophic

gene pool

total of all genes in a population at one time

Evolutionary Agent

A force that causes the genetic structure of a population to change