Evolution terms (2023/2024) rated A+

Evolution terms (2023/2024) rated A+ species an group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed(interbreeding) and produce healthy fertile offspring variation Differences between members of the same species. adapatation inherited characteristics of an organism that enhances its survival and reproduction in specific environments niche full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions fossils the perserved trace, imprint, or remains of a plant or animal evolution Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from the present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a population from generation to generation. natural selection the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do; a theory to explain the mechanism of evolution gradualism The theory that evolution occurs slowly but steadily. punctuated equilibrium a theory of evolution holding that evolutionary change in the fossil record came in fits and starts rather than in a steady process of slow change homologous structures structures that are shared by related species and that have been inherited from a common ancestor divergent evolution evolution in which species that once were similar to an ancestral species diverge; occurs when populations adapt to different environmental conditions; may result in the formation of a new species. vestigial structures a structure in an organism that is reduced in size and function and that may have been complete and functional in the organisms ancestors. speciation process of evolution of new species that occurs when members of similar populations no longer interbreed to produce fertile offspring within their natural environment analagous structures similar function but different structure - does not show common ancestry - Ex: butterfly wing and bat wing) convergent evolution the process by which unrelated species become more similar as they adapt to the same kind of environment coevolution The mutual evolutionary influence between two different species interacting with each other and reciprocally influencing each other's adaptations. adaptive radiation process by which a single species or small group of species evolves into several different forms that live in different ways; rapid growth in the diversity of a group of organisms gene pool combined genetic information of all the members of a particular population allele frequencies the proportions of alternative forms of a gene in a population of organisms genetic equilibrium condition in which the frequency of alleles in a population remains the same over generations directional selection form of natural selection in which the entire curve moves; occurs when individuals at one end of a distribution curve have higher fitness than individuals in the middle or at the other end of the curve genetic drift the gradual changes in gene frequencies in a population due to random events disruptive selection both forms at extreme endfavors are favored, intermediate forms eliminated