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chapter 6.4
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| theory of evolution | The unifying theory of biology that posits that all living organisms evolved from a common ancestor |
| biological species concept | the definition of species as a population of organisms that have common characteristics and can successfully breed with each other |
| reproductive isolation | the inability of separate populations to interbreed |
| genus | a group of similar species |
| species epithet | the species name of an organism |
| binomial nomenclature | a system of naming species using two names, the first of which refers to the genus |
| phylogenetics | the study evolutionary relationships |
| taxon | (pl.taxa) a group of organisms that share a common ancestry |
| natural selection | a mechanism of evolutionary change that results when individuals that are better adapted than others in meeting the challenges of the environment produce more offspring |
| phylogeny | the evolutionary history of a species or other taxon |