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Biology Ch. 27 Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Adaptive Radiation | Evolution of several species from a common ancestor into new ecological or geographical zones. |
| Allopatric Speciation | Origin of new species in populations that are separated geographically. |
| Analogous Structure | Structure that has a similar function in separate lineages but differs in anatomy and ancestry. |
| Autotroph | Organism that can capture energy and synthesize organic molecules from inorganic nutrients. |
| Biogeography | Study of the geographical distribution of organisms. |
| Bottleneck Effect | Type of genetic drift; occurs when a majority of genotypes ore prevented from participating in the production of the next generation as a result of a natural disaster or human interference. |
| Clade | Taxon or group of taxa consisting of an ancestral species and all of its decendants, forming a distinct branch on a phylogenetic tree. |
| Cladogram | A branching diagram that shows the relationship among species in regard to their shared, derived characters. |
| Continental Drift | Movement of continents with respect to one another over Earth's surfaces. |
| Convergent Evolution | The acquisition of the same or similar traits in distantly related lines of evolutionary decent. |
| Directional Selection | Natural selection in which an extreme phenotype is favored, usually in a changing environment. |
| Disruptive Selection | Natural selection which extreme phenotypes are favored over the average phenotype, leading to more than one distinct form. |
| Domain Archaea | One of three domains; contains prokaryotic organisms. |
| Domain Bacteria | One of the three domains; contains prokaryotic organisms. |
| Domain Eukarya | One of the three domains; contains eukaryotic organisms. |
| Evolution | Changes that occur in members of a species with the passage of time, often resulting in increased adaptation of organisms to the environment. |
| Fitness | Lifetime reproductive success; the relative ability of an individual to produce fertile offspring as measured against other individuals of the same species in the same environment. |
| Fossil | Any past evidence of an organism that has been preserved in Earth's crust. |
| Founder Effect | Type of genetic drift in which only a fraction of the total genetic diversity of the original gene pool is represented as a result of a few individuals founding a colony. |
| Gene Flow | Sharing of genes between two populations through interbreeding. |
| Gene Pool | Total of all the genes of all the individuals in a population. |
| Genetic Drift | Mechanism of evolution due to random changes in the allelic frequencies of the population; more likely to occur in small populations or when only a few individuals of a large population reproduce. |
| Heterotroph | Organism that can't synthesize organic molecules from inorganic nutrients and therefore must take in organic nutrients (food). |
| Homologous Structure | Structure that is similar in two or more species because of common ancestry. |
| Liposome | A microscopic artificial sac composed of fatty substances and used in experimental research on the cell. |
| Microevolution | Change in gene frequencies between populations of a species over time. |
| Microsphere | Structure composed only of protein that many of the properties of a cell. |
| Mutation | Alteration in chromosome structure or number; also, an alteration in a gene due to a change in DNA composition. |
| Natural Selection | Mechanism of evolution caused by environmental selection of organisms most fit to reproduce; results in adaptation to the environment. |
| Nonrandom Mating | Mating among individuals on the basis of their phenotypic similarities or differences, rather than mating on a random basis. |
| Phyletic Gradualism | Evolutionary change resulting in a new species can occur gradually in an unbranched lineage. |
| Phylogenetics | The study of how organisms are evolutionarily related; used to build evolutionary trees to describe these relationships. |
| Phylogeny | Evolutionary history of a group of organisms. |
| Population | Group of organisms of the same species occupying a certain area and sharing a common gene pool. |
| Postzygotic Isolating Mechanism | A mechanism that prevents an offspring from developing or becoming sexually mature after fertilization has taken place. |
| Prezygotic Isolating Mechanism | A mechanism that prevents fertilization. |
| Protein-first Hypothesis | In chemical evolution, the proposal that protein originated before other macromolecules and made possible the formation of protocells. |
| Proteinoid | Abioticaally polymerized amino acids that, when exposed to water, become microspheres. |
| Protocell | In biological evolution, a possible cell forerunner that became a cell once it could reproduce. |
| Punctuated Equilibrium | Evolutionary model that proposes that periods of rapid change dependent on speciation are followed by long periods of stasis. |
| RNA-first Hypothesis | In chemical evolution, the proposal that RNA originated before other macromolecules and allowed for the formation of the first cell(s). |
| Speciation | When one species gives rise to two species, each of which continues on its own evolutionary pathway. |
| Species | Group of similarly constructed organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring; organisms that share a common gene pool. |
| Sympatric Speciation | Origin of new species in populations that overlap geographically. |
| Systematics | The discipline of identifying and classifying organisms according to their evolutionary relationships. |
| Taxonomy | The assignment of a binomial name to each species. |
| Three-domain System | Method of classification in which the largest grouping is the domain; the three domains are Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. |
| Transitional Link | A form, usually extinct, that bears a resemblance to two groups that in the present day are classified separately. |
| Vestigial Structure | Underdeveloped structure that was functional in some ancestor but is no longer functional in a particular organism. |
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