Studied by 17 peoplechemical 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
Note
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