evolution

fuck me

population

A group of organisms belonging to the same species in a specific location and at a specific time.

species

Organisms sharing similar traits and that can reproduce fertile offspring with each other.

gene pool

Sum of all the genes in the population.

variation

Difference in traits between the population.

gene

Determines an organism’s characteristics.

allele

An alternate form of a gene.

frequency

The rate at which something occurs.

gene frequency

How often a certain genes appears within a population.

selection pressure

Something which makes it easier to survive in an environment compared to others.

survival of the fittest

Those whom are best suited to the environment will survive and pass down their favourable trait to their offspring.

microevolution

Small changes in traits to a species over a long period of time.

macroevolution

Changes in traits in a species result in the development of an entirely new species over a long period of time.

natural selection

Organisms with higher fitness will live and come to produce more offspring, which therefore allows for their favourable gene to pass down.

fitness

The ability to survive and reproduce.

mutation

The source for variation in genes and producing new alleles, in which errors within DNA create different genotypes and phenotypes depending on the current environment.

random genetic drift

Chance of variation in traits in a small, isolated sample of a population.

founder effect

Subcategory of Genetic Drift in which a small sample leaves their population and migrates elsewhere, becoming separated with their original population.

bottleneck effect

Subcategory of Genetic Drift in which only a small sample of a population survives a natural disaster, restricting the gene pool to that small sample.

gene flow

Migration of a sample from one population to another. Can either be emigration in which the sample leaves and immigration in which the sample enters.

barriers to gene flow

Stops Gene Flow from occurring. Can be geographical barriers or socio-cultural barriers.

sexual selection

Mating in which the partner is specifically selected for reasons such as traits possessed. Examples of this include Male Competition and Female choice.

artificial selection

In which humans breed animals in which possess desirable traits to increase the frequency of that gene in the gene pool. Also known as selective breeding and commonly occurs with crops, dog breeds, and livestock.

biotic

Changes due to living organisms.

abiotic

Changes due to a non-living environment.

speciation

Evolutionary process in which new species are created. Can only occur if a barrier to gene flow is present.

isolation

A barrier that folds a population in two. A step in speciation in which separates two halves of a population from interacting and therefore reproducing.

temporal barriers

Barriers that stop organisms from reproducing with one another due to a difference in breeding seasons.

behavioural barriers

Barriers that stop organisms from reproducing from one another due to differences in behaviour.

mechanical barriers

Barriers that stop organism from reproducing with one another due to physical barriers that prohibit the combining of gametes.

chemical barriers

Barriers that stop organism from reproducing with one another due to chemical barriers that prohibit the combining of gametes.

geographical barriers

Organisms that are physically separated by land formations, prohibiting them from reproducing with one another.

selection

The step in Speciation in which involves Natural Selection, creating a change in gene frequencies in a gene pool.

allopatric

A type of Speciation. The population splits into halves due to geographical isolation.

peripatric

A type of Speciation in which a smaller sample breaks off from the population.

parapatric

A type of Speciation, where partial separation in the environment causes diverging populations. These organisms can only breed with other organisms close by.

sympatric

In which species occupy the same location but utilise different food sources.

phylogeny

Study of evolutionary relationships of species.

common ancestor

Ancestor shared by two or more species.

fossil formation

Evidence of Evolution, in which evidence of previous species are preserved within soil and rock. It also follows a process of burial, deep burial, and over a long period of time, exposure.

fossil record

Evidence of Evolution and is used to note various changes in traits of an organism over time. This helps find transitional forms (the transitional form between one species and another).

homologous structures

Structures of different species that have the same structure but serve a different function.

analogous structures

Structures of different species that have different structures on the inside but strive to achieve the same function.

vestigial structures

Structures that may have once served a purpose for a past ancestor, yet no longer do so for the current species. Some examples of this in humans is ear muscles, body hair, and wisdom teeth.

embryology

Study in which observes how species will have a similar embryotic stage to other various species.

comparative DNA sequence

In which comparing genetic code (amino acids) reveals how species are closely/sparsely related depending on the similar of their sequences.

law of superposition

The further down you go in the lithosphere, the older the rock will be. We can apply this law to fossil dating.

index fossil

Found fossil in which matches up with a specific time period.

stratigraphy

Study of sedimentary layers and rocks.

radiocarbon dating

Determining the age of a fossil by measuring the amount of carbon-14 it has. It is a form of absolute dating.