Biological Evolution Vocabulary

Species

Species

A group of similar organisms that can mate with each other and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce

Evolution

Change over time; the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

Fossil

The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past.

Scientific Theory

A well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results

Mechanism

The natural process by which something takes place.

Natural Selection

The process by which organisms that are best adapted to their environment are most likely to survive and reproduce

Competition

The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited resources in the same place at the same time

Sexual selection

A type of natural selection that acts on an organism/s ability to get the best possible mate.

Coevolution

The process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other over time

Gene Flow

occurs when individuals with new alleles physically move from one population to another; can increase the genetic variation of a population

Genetic Drift

Through random chance a genetic variation of a population shrinks over time.

Fossil Record

All the fossils that have been discovered and what scientists have learned from them

Embryo

The young organism that develops from a zygote

Homologous Structures

Structures that are similar in different species and that have been inherited from a common ancestor

Extinct

Term used to refer to a group related organisms that has dies out and has no living members.

Evidence

Information or data that is used to support a conclusion.

Protein

Large organic molecule made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sometimes sulfur.

Endosymbiosis

A relationship in which one organism lives inside another organism’s cells.

Adaptation

An inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment

Symbiosis

Two organisms that have a close relationship that involves living with each other