Chaper 10 Vocab Flashcards
Species
Group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
Evolution
Change in a species over time; process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors
Fossils
Trace of an organism from the past
Catastrophism
Theory that states that natural disasters shaped earths landforms and caused extinction of some species
Uniformitarianism
Theory that states that the geologic processes that shape earth are uniform through time
Gradualism
Principle that states that the changes in landforms result from slow changes over a long period of time
Variation
Differences in physical traits of an individual from the group to which it belongs
Adaptation
A feature that allows an organism to better survive in its environment
Artificial selection
Process by which humans modify a species by breeding it for certain traits
Heritability
Ability of a trait to be passed from one generation to the next
Natural selection
Mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptations 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 organisms ability to survive and produce offspring relative to other members of a population
Biogeography
The study of the distribution of organisms around the world
Homologous structures
Body part that is similar in structure on different organisms but performs different functions
