Miller Levine Biology Book Chapter 13 and 14
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37 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Evolution | Process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms. |
| Fitness | Combo of physical traits and behaviors that help an animal survive and reproduce in its environment. |
| Common Descent | idea that species have descended from common ancestors. |
| Adaptation | Process that enables organisms to become better suited to their environments. |
| Fossil | Preserved remains or evidence of an ancient organisms. |
| Geologic Time Scale | Record of the history of life determined by the positions of layers of rock. |
| Relative Dating | Technique used to determine the age of fossils by comparing them with other fossils in different layers of rock. |
| Radioactive Element | Unstable element that decays into a stable element at a steady rate. |
| Half life | Length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay. |
| Absolute Dating | Method of measuring rates of decay of radioactive materials to determine how long ago an event occurred or an organism lived. |
| Era | largest interval of time in a geological time scale. |
| Epoch | interval of time in a geological time scale. |
| Period | Interval of time in the geological time scale that is composed of epochs. |
| Sedimentary Rock | Rock that forms when grains of eroded rock and other materials are carried to the bottom of a body of water and build up under pressure into layers |
| Paleontologist | Someone who studies fossils |
| Fossil Record | Collection of fossils that represents the preserved collective history of the Earth's organisms. |
| Embryo | Organisms at an early stage of development |
| Homologous Structure | Parts of different organisms, often quite dissimilar, that developed from the same ancestral body parts |
| Vestigial Organ | Structure that serves no useful purpose or function in an organism. Example: Human Appendix. |
| Artificial Selection | Technique in which the intervention of humans allows only selected organisms to produce offspring. |
| Natural Selection | Process in nature that results in the most fit organisms producing offspring. |
| Survival of the Fittest | Principle that states that only individuals with characteristics best suited to their environment survive the struggle for existence. |
| Population | Collection of individuals of the same species in a given area whose members can breed with one another. |
| Gene Pool | Common group of genes shared by members of a population |
| Relative Frequency | Number of times and event (allele) occurs compared with the number of times another event (other alleles for the same gene) occurs. |
| Speciation | the formation of new species as a result of evolution |
| Niche | the status of an organism within its environment and community (affecting its survival as a species) |
| Reproductive Isolation | Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring. |
| Adaptive Radiation | One species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally. Also Divergent Evolution. |
| Divergent Evolution | One species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally. Also Adaptive Radiation. |
| Convergent Evolution | Opposite of Divergent Evolution. Get closer in similarities. |
| Analogous Structure | Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures. |
| Genetic Drift | Random change in the frequency of a gene. |
| Gradualism | Theory that evolutionary change occurs slowly and gradually. |
| Equilibrium | State in which no net change occurs. |
| Mass Extinction | When many species suddenly vanish. |
| Punctuated Equilibria | Pattern of long stable periods interrupted by brief periods of change. (Animals change very quickly instead of gradually like Gradualism). |
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