Evolution Vocabulary

Natural Selection

a mechanism of evolution where organisms with heritable traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, increasing the frequency of those traits in the population over generations

Artificial Selection

Also known as selective breeding, or the human-directed process of choosing specific organisms with desirable, heritable traits to be bred, intentionally influencing the evolution of populations

Evidence for evolution

Fossil records, homologous structures, vestigial structures, similarities in DNA, embryonic development.

Homologous structures

anatomical structures similar in shape but different in function, suggesting common ancestry

Vestigial structures

anatomical structures that now have no use, as they’ve lost as function from evolution

Analogous structures

anatomical structures that are similar in function, but have different evolutionary origins

Speciation

the process where one population splits into two or more reproductively isolated groups that evolve independently, forming new, distinct species

Gene Flow

the transfer of genetic variation from one population to another

Genetic Drift

change in allele frequencies in a population from generation to generation that occurs due to chance events.

Bottleneck effect

another form of genetic drift where an event drastically reduces the size of a population and consequently its genetic variation.

Hardy Weinberg Conditions

no mutation, random mating, no gene flow (migration), extremely large population size, and no natural selection

Three Domains of Life in Order

Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya

Taxonomic levels of Classification

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species

Founder Effect

a loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new, small population is established by a very few individuals from a larger, original population