Chapters 9-12

Question 1

Biodiversity is the…

Answer 1

variety within and among living species

Question 2

Number of species known to science is between…

Answer 2

1.4 and 1.8 million

Question 3

Number of species

estimates range from…

Answer 3

3 – 100 million

Question 4

Evolution

Answer 4

Change

Question 5

Biological evolution

Answer 5

A change in the characteristics of a population of organisms that occurs over the course of generations.

Question 6

Species

Answer 6

A group of individuals that can regularly breed together, produce fertile offspring, and that is generally distinct from other species in appearance or behavior. Most species are subdivided by geography into smaller groups.

Question 7

Natural Selection

Answer 7

The differential survival and reproduction of individuals in a population, brought about the evolutionary change.

Question 8

Natural Selection is the process…

Answer 8

… by which populations adapt to their changing environment.

Question 9

Changes that occur within a species in the characteristics of populations are referred to as

Answer 9

microevolution

Question 10

Theory of Evolution

Answer 10

All species present on Earth today are decedents of a single common ancestor, and all species represent the product of millions of years of accumulative microevolutionary changes.

Question 11

The biological classification system in Darwin’s era

Answer 11

Domain 
Kingdom 
Phylum 
Class 
Order 
Family
Genus
Species

Question 12

Common Descent

Answer 12

This theory states that all modern organisms descended from a single common ancestor. Each branching point on the tree represents the origin of new species from an ancestral form.

Question 13

The Linnaean classification of humans

Answer 13

All organisms within a category share basic characteristics, and as the groups become smaller subdivisions toward the bottom of the figure, the organisms have more similarities.