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Vocab Chapter 10
Class: Biology, Teacher: Sister Ruth
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Evolution | Change in a species over time; process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors. |
| Species | Group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring. |
| Fossil | Trace of an organism from the past. |
| Catastrophism | Theory that states that natural disasters such as floods and volcanic eruptions shaped Earth's landforms and caused extinction of some species. |
| Gradualism | Principle that states that the changes in landforms result from slow changes over a long period of time. |
| Uniformitarianism | Theory that states that the geologic processes that shape Earth are uniform through time. |
| Variation | Differences in physical traits of an individual from the group to which it belongs. |
| Adaptation | Inherited trait that is selected for over time because it allows organisms to better survive in their environment. |
| Artificial selection | Process by which humans modify a species by breeding it for certain traits. |
| Heritability | Ability of a trait to be passed from one generation to the next. |
| Natural selection | Mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptations produce more offspring on average than do other individuals. |
| Population | All of the individuals of a species that live in the same area. |
| Fitness | Measure of an organism's ability to survive and produce offspring relative to other members of a population |
| Biogeography | Study of the distribution of organisms around the world. |
| Homologous structure | Body part that is similar in structure on different organisms but performs different functions. |
| Analogous structure | Body part that is similar in function as a body part of another organism but is structurally different. |
| Vestigial structure | Remnants of an organ or structure that functioned in an earlier ancestor. |
| paleontology | Study of fossils or extinct organisms. |