Chapter 16 Quiz Flashcards
Fossil
preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms
Evolution
change over time; the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms
Artificial selection
selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring
Adaptation
heritable characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in an environment
Fitness
how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment
Natural selection
process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest
Who observed variations in characteristics of plants and animals in different islands in the Galapagos?
Charles Darwin
In addition to observing living organisms, Darwin studied the preserved remains of ancient organisms called
Fossils
Which of the following ideas proposed by Lamarck was later found to be incorrect?
Acquired characteristics can be inherited
What would an animal breeder use to increase the number of cows that give the most milk?
Artificial selection
An inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce is called an
Adaptation
How well an organism survives and reproduces in its environment can be described as its
Fitness
Structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissue are called
Homologous
Intermediate fossil forms are important evidence of evolution because they show
How organisms changed over time
