| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Population | An ecological interaction in which organism feeds on another. |
| Natural Selection | Process by which populations change in response to their environment as individuals better adapted to the environment leave more offspring than those individuals not suited to the environment. |
| Adaption | Process of becoming adapted to an environment; an anatomical structure, physiological process, or behavioral trait that improves an organism's likelihood of survival and reproduction. |
| Isolation | Condition in which two populations of a species are separated so that they cannot interbreed. |
| Paleontologists | Scientist who studies fossils. |
| Extinct | Term used to indicate species that have disappeared permanently. |
| Vestigial Structure | Structure reduced in size and function; considered to be evidence of an organism's evolutionary past. |
| Homologous Structures | Structures that share a common ancestry. |
| Gradualism | Model of evolution in which gradual changes over a long period of time leads to species formation. |
| Punctuated Equilibrium | Model of evolution in which short periods of rapid change in species are separated by long periods of little or no change. |
| Industrial Melanism | Darkening of populations of organisms over time in response to industrial pollution. |
| Divergence | Accumulation of differences between groups; can lead to the formation of new species. |
| Speciation | Process by which new species are formed. |
| Ecological Races | Population of a species that differs genetically because of adaptations to different living conditions. |
| Reproductive Isolation | Prevention of mating between formerly interbreeding groups, or the inability of these groups to produce fertile offspring. |
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