Adaptation and Natural Selection Flashcards
habitat
the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
biotic factors
All the living organisms that inhabit an environment
Adaptation
inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s chance of survival
abiotic factors
Nonliving components of environment.
temperate zone
climate zones with moderate temperatures that are located between the tropics and the polar zones
inherited characteristics
physical traits that are passed from parent to young.
Variation
differences in physical traits of an individual from the group to which it belongs
inherited variation
Variation in a characteristic that is a result of genetic inheritance from the parents
environmental variation
Variation among individuals that is due to differences in the environment.
Natural Selection
A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.
Evolution
Change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.
Species
A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
Evidence for evolution
can be found in fossil records, geographical distribution, homologous structures, similarities in early development, and DNA analysis
Desert zone
An extremely dry area with little water and few plants
Polar zones
A climate zone characterized by very little precipitation and extremely cold temperatures.
