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evolution bio vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| biogeography | study of the distribution of plants and animals on Earth. |
| embryo | organism’s early prebirth stage of development. |
| analogous structure | structure that has the same function but different construction and was not inherited from a common ancestor. |
| vestigial structure | reduced form of a functional structure that indicates shared ancestry. |
| homologous structure | anatomically similar structure inherited from a common ancestor. |
| ancestral trait | more-primitive characteristic that appeared in common ancestors. |
| derived trait | new feature that had not appeared in common ancestors. |
| fitness | measure of a trait’s relative contribution to the following generation. |
| camouflage | morphological adaptations that allow organisms to blend into their surroundings. |
| mimicry | morphological adaptation in which one species evolves to resemble another species for protection or other advantages. |
| evolution | the change in species over time. |
| natural selection | theory of evolution developed by Darwin, based on four ideas: excess reproduction, variations, inheritance, and the advantages of specific traits in an environment. |
| artificial selection | Darwin’s term for the selective breeding of organisms selected for certain traits in order to produce offspring having those traits. |