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Biology Ch. 15
Question | Answer |
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Evolution | A heritable change in the characteristics within a population from one generation to the next; the development of new types of organisms from preexisting types of organisms over time |
Strata | Layers of rock (singular, stratum) |
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 |
Adaptation | The process of becoming adapted to an environment; an anatomical, physiological, or behavioral change that improves a population's ability to survive |
Fitness | A measurement of the ability of a species to respond to the pressures of natural selection; the ability of individuals to survive to propagate their genes |
Fossil | The trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock |
Superposition | A principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks if the layers have not been disturbed |
Relative Age | The age of an object in relation to the ages of other objects |
Absolute Age | The numeric age of an object or event, often stated in years before the present, as established by an absolute-dating process, such as radiometric dating |
Biogeography | The study of the geographical distribution of living organisms and fossils on Earth |
Homologous Structure | Anatomical structures that share a common ancestry |
Analogous Structure | An anatomical structure in one species that is similar in function and appearance, but not in evolutionary origin, to another anatomical structure in another species |
Vestigial Structure | A structure in an organism that is reduced in size and function and that may have been complete and functional in the organism's ancestors |
Phylogeny | The evolutionary history of a species or taxonomic group |
Convergent Evolution | The process by which unrelated species become more similar as they adapt to the same kind of environment |
Divergent Evolution | The process by which two or more related but reproductively isolated populations become more and more dissimilar |
Adaptive Radiation | An evolutionary pattern in which many species evolve from a single ancestral species |
Artificial Selection | The selective breeding of organisms (by humans) for specific desirable characteristics |
Coevolution | The evolution of two or more species that is due to mutual influence, often in a way that makes the relationship more mutually beneficial |