click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Bio-Ch16
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| heritable characteristics that increase an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in an environment | adaptation |
| body parts that share a common function, but not structure | analogous structure |
| selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in an offspring | artificial selection |
| the study of past and present distribution of organisms | bio geography |
| change over time; the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms | evolution |
| how well an organism can survive in its environment | fitness |
| preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms | fossil |
| structures that are similar in different species of common ancestry | homologous structure |
| process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest | natural selection |
| structure that is inherited from ancestors but has lost much or all of its original function | vestigial structure |