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biology vocab set 8
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Evolution | The process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth. |
Species | A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding |
Natural Selection | The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring |
Paleontology | The branch of science concerned with fossils, animals, and plants |
Coevolution | The influence of closely associated species on each other in their evolution |
Homologous Structure | A bone or organ that appears in different animals, underlining anatomical commonalities demonstrating descent from a common ancestor |
Analogous Structure | Different species having the same function but evolved separately, do not share common ancestor |
Vestigial Structure | A structure in an organism that has lost all or most of its original function in the course of evolution |
Directional Selection | An extreme phenotype is favored by another phenotype |
Stabilizing Selection | Instead of favoring individuals with extreme phenotype, it favors the intermediate variants |
Disruptive Selection | Change in population genetics in which extreme values for a trait are favored over intermediate values |