Chapter 7 - Vocabulary

Question 1

Adaptation

Answer 1

a characteristic or feature of a species that makes it well suited for survival or reproductive success in its environment.

Question 2

Analogous Feature

Answer 2

a structure that performs the same function as another but is not similar in origin or anatomical structure; for example, bird and insect wings.

Question 3

Artificial Selection

Answer 3

directed breeding in which individuals that exhibit a particular trait are chosen as parents of the next generation; artificial selection is used to produce new breeds or varieties of plants and animals.

Question 4

Beneficial Mutation

Answer 4

any mutation that increases the reproductive success of an organism; beneficial mutations are favoured by natural selection and accumulate over time.

Question 5

Biogeography

Answer 5

the scientific study of the geographic distribution of organisms based on both living species and fossils.

Question 6

Catastrophism

Answer 6

the theory that the pattern of fossils could be accounted for by a series of global catastrophes that wipes out most species on Earth.

Question 7

Fossil

Answer 7

any ancient remains, impressions, or traces of an organism or traces of its activity that have been preserved in rocks or other mineral deposits in Earth’s crust.

Question 8

Gene Pool

Answer 8

the complete set of all alleles contained within a species or population.

Question 9

Half-life

Answer 9

the time required for half the quantity of a radioactive substance to undergo decay; the half-life is a constant for any given isotope.

Question 10

Harmful Mutation

Answer 10

any mutation that reduces the reproductive success of an individual and is therefore selected against; harmful mutations do not accumulate over time.

Question 11

Homologous Feature

Answer 11

a structure with a common evolutionary origin that may serve different functions in modern species (for example, bat wing and human arm).

Question 12

Immutable

Answer 12

unable to change.

Question 13

Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

Answer 13

the modern theory of evolution that takes into account all branches of biology.

Question 14

Natural Selection

Answer 14

the way in which nature favours the reproductive success of some individuals within a population over others.

Question 15

Neutral Mutation

Answer 15

a mutation that does not result in any selective advantage or disadvantage.

Question 16

Paleontology

Answer 16

the scientific investigation of prehistoric life through the study of fossils.

Question 17

Plate Tectonics

Answer 17

the scientific theory that describes the large-scale movements and features of Earth’s crust.

Question 18

Pseudogene

Answer 18

a vestigial gene that no longer codes for a functioning protein.

Question 19

Radioisotope

Answer 19

an atom with an unstable nucleus that is capable of undergoing radioactive decay.

Question 20

Survival of the Fittest

Answer 20

a phrase that has been used to describe the process of natural selection.

Question 21

Uniformitarianism

Answer 21

the theory that geological changes are slow and gradual and that natural laws and processes have not changed over time.

Question 22

Vestigial Feature

Answer 22

a rudimentary and non-functioning, structure that is homologous to a fully functioning structure in closely related species.