Natural Selection and Evolution Flashcards

These flashcards provide vocabulary terms and definitions based on the lecture notes on natural selection, evolution, and the work of Charles Darwin.

Evolution

The gradual change in living things over a very long period of time, usually across many generations, leading to the diversity of life on Earth.

Natural selection

The process where organisms that have favorable traits—or traits that help them survive in their environment—are more likely to live longer, reproduce, and pass these traits to their offspring.

Charles Darwin

The scientist known for proposing the theory of evolution by natural selection after observing plants and animals during his voyage on the HMS Beagle.

HMS Beagle

The ship on which Charles Darwin traveled around the world to study living things in nature and form his ideas about evolution.

Variation

The differences among individuals of the same species, such as differences in color, size, shape, speed, or other characteristics.

Inheritance

The process by which traits are naturally passed from parents to offspring through genes, such as fur color, height, or beak shape.

Competition

The struggle between organisms for limited resources in an ecosystem, such as food, water, shelter, and mates.

Adaptation

A special trait or characteristic of an organism that improves its chances of survival and reproduction in a particular environment.

Survival of the Fittest

A concept describing that best-adapted organisms, those with traits that help them meet their basic needs and avoid danger, are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Galápagos finches

A group of birds that developed different beak shapes through natural selection to adapt to different food sources such as seeds, insects, and fruits.

Industrial melanism

An example of natural selection seen in peppered moths during the Industrial Revolution, where dark-colored moths survived better in soot-darkened environments.

Antibiotic resistance

An example of natural selection where a few bacteria naturally resistant to antibiotics survive treatment and reproduce, making the population harder to treat.

Fossils

Preserved remains of organisms from the past that provide evidence of how species have changed over time and identify extinct species.

DNA Evidence

Evidence of evolution that uses similarities in genetic material to show how closely related different species are and suggest they share a common ancestor.

Environmental pressure

Changes or challenges in the environment, such as climate, predators, or food shortages, that affect an organism's survival.