Chapter 2 Vocab Flashcards
Natural selection
The most critical mechanism of evolutionary change, first described by Charles Darwin; refers to genetic change or changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success between individuals
Fixity of species
The notion that species, once created, can never change; an idea diametrically opposed to theories of biological evolution
Reproductively isolated
Pertaining to groups of organisms that, mainly because of genetic differences, are prevented from mating and producing offspring with members of other such groups. For example, dogs cannot mate and produce offspring with cats
Binomial nomenclature
(Binomial meaning “two names”) in taxonomy, the convention established by Carolus Linnaeus whereby genus and species names are used to refer to species. For example, Homo sapiens refers to human beings
Taxonomy
The branch of science concerned with the rules of classifying organisms on the basis of evolutionary relationships
Catastrophism
The view that the Earth’s geological landscape is the result of violent cataclysmic events. Georges Cuvier promoted this view, especially in opposition to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Uniformitarianism
The theory that the Earth’s features are the result of long term processes that continue to operate in the present just as they did in the past. Elaborated on by Charles Lyell, this theory opposed catastrophism and contributed strongly to the concept of deep geological time
Fitness
Pertaining to natural selection, a measure of the relative reproductive success of individuals. Fitness can be measured by an individual’s genetic contribution to the next generation compared with that of other individuals. The terms genetic fitness, reproductive fitness, and differential reproductive success are also used
Reproductive success
The number of offspring an individual produces and tears to reproductive age; an individual’s genetic contribution to the next generation
Selective pressures
Forces in the environment that influence reproductive success in individuals
Fertility
The ability to conceive and produce healthy offspring
Genome
The entire genetic makeup of an individual or species
Biological continuity
A biological continuum. When expressions of a phenomenon continuously grade into one another so that there are no discrete categories, they exist on a continuum. Color is one such phenomenon, and life forms are another
Christian fundamentalists
Adherents to a movement in American Protestantism that began in the early twentieth century. This group holds that the teachings of the Bible are infallible and that the scriptures are to be taken literally