Evolution

Vocabulary

Acquired Trait - The character developed in an individual as a result of environmental influence

Artificial Selection - An evolutionary process in which humans consciously select for or against particular features in organisms

Adaptation - Organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment

Natural Selection - Process by which organisms with favorable traits survive and reproduce

Fitness - The strength from survival and reproduction

Evolution - The process of organisms changing over time to adapt to their environment

Microevolution - Small changes

Macroevolution - Larger changes, leads to speciation

Derived Traits - Those that just appeared (by mutation) in the most recent ancestor ( white mice turning brown because of environment)

Homologous Structures - Similar structures evolved from a common ancestor

Analogous Structures - Similar structures in unrelated organisms

Vestigial Structures - Structure that does not have a major function

Biogeography - The branch of biology that deals with the geographical distribution of plants and animals

Stabilizing Selection - Individuals are more fit to survive; they stabilize (medium)

Directional Selection - A single phenotype is favored, causing the allele frequency to continuously shift in one direction

Disruptive Selection - Occurs when both extreme traits are favored in an environment

Sexual Selection - The process by which individuals compete for access to mates and fertilization opportunities

Divergent Evolution - Related species becoming more dissimilar

Convergent Evolution - Unrelated species becoming more similar due to the same kind of environmental pressures

Coevolution - 2 organisms evolving together develop adaptions to benefit one another or coloration to hide or shape to allow for pollination

Gradualism - The evolution of species by gradual accumulation of small genetic species

Punctuated Equilibrium - Pattern of Evolution which long stable periods interrupted by short bursts of change

Adaptive Radiation - Example of divergent evolution; radiates throughout environment

Embryology - The branch of biology concerned with the study of embryos

Comparative Anatomy - The study of similarities in the anatomical structure of different species

Biogeography - The branch of biology that deals with the geographical distribution of plants and animals

Biochemical Evidence - A technique used to determine relationships

HMS Beagle - Charles Darwin was studying natural selection; ship that took Darwin to the Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Islands - Recent volcanic origin; species came here from South America because they were specifically adapted to the Galapagos

Gene Pool - The combination of all the genes (including alleles) present in a reproducing population or species

Genetic Drift - The change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random chance

Bottleneck Effect - Dramatic reduction of a population’s size

The Founder Effect - A small group of founding individuals colonize a new location, reduced genetic diversity usually occurs

Mutation - A change in DNA sequence

Geographical Isolation - The physical separation of populations of organisms from one another due to geographical barriers. This type of isolation can lead to the development of distinct genetic and physical characteristics in different populations, and ultimately, the evolution of new species.

Behavioral Isolation - When species are reproductively isolated from others due to differences in behavior. Behavioral isolation is a way in which nature prevents interbreeding of species through behavioral differences

Prezygotic Isolation - Prevent fertilization from happening (behavioral, geographical, ecological)

Postzygotic Isolation - A sterile offspring is made (liger)

Law of Superposition - One of the principles of geology scientists use to determine the relative ages of rock strata, or layers. The youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it

Allopatric Speciation - Physical barriers divide populations (most common)

Sympatric Speciation - NO physical barriers dive populations, but can occur within a population

Endosymbiotic Theory - How Eukaryotic cells came from prokaryotic cellsmay have neterd the cell through parasitism

Antibiotic Resistance - Bacteria can fight against antibiotics if the medicine was used incorrectly

Relative Dating - To determine which things are older or younger based on their relationships (Stratum)

Radiometric Dating - Using half-lives of radioactive isotopes