Chapter 2 & 3 Vocabulary

Question 2

Upright walking primates (including humans)

Answer 2

Hominids

Question 3

Long line of ancestors

Answer 3

lineage

Question 4

group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place, at the same time

Answer 4

population

Question 5

inherited characteristics of organisms that help them survive in their environment

Answer 5

adaptations

Question 6

traits/characteristics that are passed from one generation to the next

Answer 6

heritable traits (inherited traits)

Question 7

traits/characteristics that an organism obtains at some point during their life

Answer 7

acquired characteristics

Question 8

TRUE or FALSE:Typically, more offspring are born in a population than can survive.

Answer 8

TRUE

Question 9

TRUE or FALSE:Individual organisms within a population vary from one another in characteristics that are inherited.

Answer 9

TRUE

Question 10

Which of these statements is TRUE:1) Natural Selection describes how populations change over time.2) Natural Selection describes how individuals change over time.

Answer 10

The first statement is true:1) Natural Selection describes how populations change over time.

Question 11

TRUE or FALSE:Most resources available in any natural environment are unlimited.

Answer 11

FALSE!!!Most resources are limited. Therefore, there must be competition to obtain those resources!

Question 12

When humans choose the individuals that will reproduce based on certain traits.

Answer 12

Artificial Selection

Question 13

A scientist who investigates biological change by studying fossils and the history of Earth.

Answer 13

Paleobiologist

Question 14

A scientist who investigates biological change by studying ancient hominids and living primates (including humans).

Answer 14

Physical anthropologist

Question 15

study of how the layers on Earth are organized and the fossils that are found in those layers

Answer 15

stratigraphy

Question 16

Any preserved part or impression of an organism that lived in the past

Answer 16

fossil

Question 17

Inferring the age of fossils relative to one another by comparing the Earth layers in which they are found.

Answer 17

relative dating(or stratigraphy)

Question 18

Using naturally occurring radioactive elements to empirically determine the age of fossils.

Answer 18

Absolute dating(or direct dating)

Question 19

The scientific timespan of the Earth’s history

Answer 19

geologic time

Question 20

A comprehensive explanation of a set of natural phenomena supported by vast amounts of evidence from multiple sources.

Answer 20

scientific theory

Question 21

A tentative, but logical prediction based on observations

Answer 21

hypothesis

Question 22

common structures in different organisms

Answer 22

homologous structures

Question 23

structures that are functional in some organisms, but seemingly useless in others

Answer 23

vestigial organs

Question 24

study of the early development of organisms before they are born/hatched

Answer 24

embryology

Question 25

when two populations of organisms choose not to reproduce with each other because of difference in courtship rituals

Answer 25

Reproductive Isolation (over time, this can lead to new species)

Question 26

combined genetic information for ALL the members of a population

Answer 26

gene pool

Question 27

The physical separation of members of a population.

Answer 27

Geographic Isolation

Question 28

When members of a species separate and cannot mate because of the time of reproduction, season, month, day, etc…

Answer 28

Temporal Isolation