chapter 20 ~ evolution Flashcards

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1
Q

The process by which some individuals in a population experience changes in their DNA and pass those modified instructions to their offspring.

A

Biological evolution

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2
Q

The branch of biology that examines the form and variety of organisms in their natural environments.

A

Natural history

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3
Q

A belief that knowledge of god may be acquired through the study of natural phenomena.

A

Natural theology

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4
Q

The science of the classification of organisms into an ordered system that indicates natural relationships.

A

Taxonomy

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5
Q

The study of the geographical distributions of plants and animals.

A

Biogeography

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6
Q

The form or shape of an organism, or of a part of an organism.

A

Morphology

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7
Q

An anatomical feature of living organisms that no longer retains its ancestral function.

A

Vestigial structures

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8
Q

The remains or traces of an organism of past geologic age embedded and preserved in earths crust.

A

Fossils

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9
Q

The study of ancient organisms.

A

Paleobiology

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10
Q

The theory that earth has been affected by sudden, violent events that were sometimes worldwide in scope.

A

Catastrophism

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11
Q

The view that Earth and its living systems changed slowly over its history.

A

Gradualism

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12
Q

The concept that the geological processes that sculpted earth’s surface over long periods of time— such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, erosion, and the formation and movement of glaciers — are exactly the same as the processes observed today.

A

Uniformitarianism

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13
Q

Selective breeding of organisms to ensure that certain desirable traits appear at higher frequency in successive generations.

A

Artificial selection

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14
Q

The evolutionary process by which alleles that increase the likelihood of survival and the reproductive output of the individuals that carry them become more common in subsequent generations.

A

Natural selection

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15
Q

A genetically based characteristic, preserved by natural selection, that increases an organism’s likelihood of survival or its reproduction output.

A

Adaptive traits

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16
Q

A process whereby natural selection or genetic drift causes populations to become more different over time.

A

Evolutionary divergence

17
Q

Biological evolution.

A

Descent with modification

18
Q

The branch of science that studies the prevalence and variation in genes among populations of individuals.

A

Population genetics

19
Q

A unified theory of evolution developed in the middle of the twentieth century.

A

Modern synthesis

20
Q

Small-scale genetic changes within populations, often in response to shifting environmental circumstances or chance events.

A

Microevolution

21
Q

Large-scale evolutionary patterns in the history of life, producing major changes in species and higher taxonomic groups.

A

Macroevolution

22
Q

An evolutionary sequence of ancestral organisms and their descendants.

A

Biological lineages

23
Q

The study of the geographical distributions of plants and animals in relation to their evolutionary history.

A

Historical biogeography

24
Q

Analysis of the structure of living and extinct organisms.

A

Comparative morphology

25
Q

Characteristics that are similar in two species because they inherited the genetic basis of the trait from their common ancestor.

A

Homologous traits

26
Q

An obsolete theory that evolution is goal oriented, striving to perfect organisms.

A

Orthogenesis