De-Extinction Vocab
De-Extinction Vocab Quiz
Common Ancestry and Evidence of Evolution
Systematics | Classification based on phylogenetic relationships |
Domain | Most inclusive taxonomic category: eukarya, archaea, bacteria |
Prokaryote | Organisms with cells that do not contain a nucleus: bacteria, archaea |
Eukaryote | Organisms with cells that do contain a nucleus: plants, animals, fungi, protists |
Species | Most exclusive taxonomic category |
Microevolution | Evolution on a small scale; natural selection |
Macroevolution | Evolution on a larger scale; phylogeny |
Phylogenetic Tree | A branched diagram showing evolutionary relationships |
Node | Represents the most recent common ancestor in a phylogenetic tree |
Clade | A group on a tree that includes a common ancestor and all of its descendants |
Outgroup | A lineage on a tree that is least closely related to the other organisms providing a reference of comparison |
Morphological Evidence | Anatomical features shared between organisms can indicate a shared evolutionary ancestry; example: tetrapod limbs |
Fossil and Geological Evidence | Preserved remains of organisms and the rocks they are found in provide information about Earth’s history; example: newer strats tends to be found near the top |
Geographical Evidence | Characteristics of a habitat and the distribution of organisms and can be used to determine evolutionary relationships; example: most mammals on Australia are marsupials |
Molecular and Biochemical Evidence | Comparison of nucleotides and amino acid sequences provide information about common ancestry; example: all organisms have the same genetic material (DNA) supporting a universal common ancestor |
Radioactive Isotope | Unstable versions of atoms that compose at a constant rate |
Half-life | The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive isotope to decay; example: 5370 years for Carbon-14 and 1.25 billion years for Potassium-40 |
Transition Fossil | Fossils that show the evolutionary changes as one group evolved into another |
Homologous Structures | Modified traits shared among related species inherited from a common ancestor |
Tetrapod | Vertebrate animals that descended from a four-limbed ancestor: mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds |
Vestigial Structure | Morphological homology with reduced or obsolete features that serves little or no purpose now; example: ape tailbone |
Amniote | Tetrapod organisms whose embryos develop within a protective membrane: mammals, reptiles and birds |
Convergent Evolution | Similar environmental conditions select for similar traits in different populations over time |
Analogous Structure | Similar traits that evolved independently in different species due to similarities in environmental conditions |
Marsupial | Group of mammals characterized by premature birth and then continued development while attached to a nipple, usually in a pouch |
Placental | Group of mammals characterized by longer development in the uterus through the exchange of nutrients and wastes through an umbilical cord |
Adaptive Radiation | Rapid divergence of new species filling empty ecological niches |
Niche | Ecological role of an organism in its environment |
Speciation | Process by which populations become reproductively isolated and new species form |
Extinction | The disappearance of a species so that no future generations will naturally populate the Earth |