Bio unit 1

‣ Trait

an inherited characteristic of feature of an organism

‣ Evolution

change in a species over time from generation to generation through different mechanisms like natural selection, genetic drift, and mutation

‣ Fitness

measure of an organisms reproductive success ( ability to survive and reproduce)

‣ Phylogeny

evolutionary history of a species

‣ Monophyletic Group/Clade

a group of organisms that share one common ancestor

‣ Common Ancestor ex.

ex. Dogs and wolves share a common ancestor

‣ Mutation

random change in genetic sequence (usually non harmful)

‣ Homology

traits shared by diff species that come from common ancestor

Convergence

traits shared by diff species that do not come from common ancestor

‣ Vestigial Trait

parts of an organism that are no longer used/needed due to evolution

‣ Genotype

genetic makeup of an organism, combination of alleles

Phenotype

observable physical traits of an organism

‣ Speciation

when one species splits into two due to reproductive isolation

‣ Prokaryote

single celled organism with no nucleus ex. bacteria

Eukaryote

multi celled organism with a nucleus ex. Plants, animals