Term | Definition |
Evolution | Change in a species over time; process of biological change by which descendents 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 | Thoery 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. |
Adaption | 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. |
Heritiability | Ability of a trait to be passed from one generation to the next. |
Natural Selection | Mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptions 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. |