Adaptations/Natural and Artificial Selection Flashcards
What is an adaptation?
Something that allows for an animal to survive in its environment.
What is a structural adaptation?
Inherited characteristic that helps an organism survive.
What is a behavioral adaptation?
Things that an organism does to survive in an environment.
What is an example of a structural adaptation?
A fish gills which allows them to breath underwater.
Polar Bears having black skin to help absorb sunlight
What is an example of a behavioral adaptation?
Bears hibernating because it helps them survive cold and the lack of food.
A squirrel storing food for winter
Who is the Father of Evolution?
Charles Darwin
What mechanism for evolution did Darwin propose?
Natural Selection
What is natural selection?
Organisms that are best adapted to an environment survive and reproduce more than others.
What are the four steps of natural selection?
Overproduction, variation, competition, and selection.
What is overproduction?
Each species produce more offspring than can live.
What is variation?
Each individual has a unique combination of inherited traits.
Why is variation important?
The more variation of types of species in a habitat the more likely at least some will survive.
What is competition?
When individuals compete for limited resources. Ex. - Food, water, space, mates, etc…
What does natural selection occur through?
“Survival of the fittest.”
What does fittest refer to natural selection?
The best-adapted organism.