Science Chapter 5

Evolution

the model that states that simpler organisms have slowly changed into new and more complex organisms over millions of years

fossil

the preserved remains of plants and animals

uniformitarianim

the concept that all of Earth’s physical processes happen at the same rate in the present time as they did in the past.

theory of natural selection

the theory that traits that allow individuals to survive and reproduce better than other individuals without those traits will become more common in the population

mutation

random changes in DNA

modern synthesis

the modern model of evolution that blends mutation and natural selection

dating

the process used to estimate the age of rocks

common ancester

a species of organism whose descendants are believed to form two distant species

homologous structures

features shared by distant types of organisms

vestigial structure

a structure that according to evolutionary theory no longer has a structure

transitional form

a supposed organism of the past with body parts that are intermediate between early ancestrial forms and later fully developed forms; also called a missing link

genetic load

the accumulated random mutation within the DNA of a population of organisms

kind

a distant group of organisms that God created to reproduce