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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 |