click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Evolution
Evolution & Classification - most important terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| evolution | change in organisms over time |
| natural selection | process of evolutionary change in a species when individuals with favorable adaptations survive, reproduce, and pass on their genes |
| adaptations | heritable traits or behaviors that help an organism survive in its environment |
| geographic isolation | when a river, mountain, canyon, or other feature separates parts of a population, and eventually they become two different species |
| speciation | development of a new species through the process of natural selection |
| genetic variation | individual differences among members of the same species |
| classification | organization of living things into categories |
| binomial nomenclature | system of using the genus and species as the scientific name for an organism |
| species | a category within a genus; members can interbreed and have fertile offspring |
| dichotomous key | method used to identify an organism based on a series of paired descriptive choices |
| phylogenetic tree | a branching diagram used to show evolutionary relationships among different species |