click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
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 |