natural selection

Trait

a specific characteristic of an individual organism

Variation

any difference in traits between individual organisms

Mutation

a random change to a gene that sometimes results in new traits

Predator

an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

Prey

an animal that is hunted or killed by another animal for food

Camouflage

a way of hiding by looking the same as the background

Environment

everything (living and nonliving) that surrounds an organism

Abiotic

nonliving things

Biotic

living things

Genetics

study of how traits are passed down from one generation to another

Alleles

Forms of a gene (Dominant or recessive)

Homozygous

having two of the same alleles for a trait (purebred)

Heterozygous

having two different alleles for a trait (hybrid)