Descent with modification

Question 1

modern synthesis

Answer 1

a unified theory of evolution (mid 1900s)

Question 2

uniformitarianism

Answer 2

concept: mechanisms of change are constant over time; Lyell, Hutton (originally geology)

Question 3

comparative morphology

Answer 3

analysis (comparing) of the structure of living and extinct organisms

Question 4

natural history

Answer 4

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

Question 5

macroevolution

Answer 5

large-scale evolutionary patterns (above species)

Question 6

adaptive traits

Answer 6

characteristics preserved by natural selection, makes an species more successful in its environment

Question 7

gradualism

Answer 7

concept: Earth and living systems have changed slowly over time

Question 8

descent with modification

Answer 8

concept: biological evolution

Question 9

homologous traits

Answer 9

genetically based characteristics that are similar in 2 species because they share a common ancestor

Question 10

population genetics

Answer 10

the study of the prevalence and variation in genes among populations of individuals

Question 11

taxonomy

Answer 11

classification of organisms into an ordered system that indicates natural relationships

Question 12

vestigial structures

Answer 12

an anatomical feature of living organisms that no longer retains its function

Question 13

biogeography

Answer 13

the study of geographical distributions of plants and animals

Question 14

natural theology

Answer 14

knowledge of God may be acquired by studying nature

Question 15

evolutionary divergence

Answer 15

a process where natural selection or genetic drift causes populations to become more different over time

Question 16

microevolution

Answer 16

small-scale genetic changes within populations

Question 17

catastrophism

Answer 17

the theory that Earth has been affected by sudden, violent, worldwide events; Cuvier

Question 18

orthogenesis

Answer 18

an obsolete theory that evolution is goal oriented, striving to prefect organisms

Question 19

biological lineages

Answer 19

an evolutionary sequence of ancestral organisms and their descendants

Question 20

paleobiology

Answer 20

the study of ancient organisms (fossils)

Question 21

morphology

Answer 21

the study of the form or shape of an organism

Question 22

Lamarck’s evolution

Answer 22

inheritance of acquired characteristics; use and disuse

Question 23

natural selection

Answer 23

a process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than others because of those traits; selected by the environment; a mechanism of evolution; Darwin

Question 24

homology

Answer 24

similarity resulting from common ancestry

Question 25

homologous structures

Answer 25

structures that represent variations on a structural theme that was present in a common ancestor (function is not necessarily similar)

Question 26

vestigial structures

Answer 26

“left over” structures that are remnants of features that served a function in the organism’s ancestors

Question 27

convergent evolution

Answer 27

the independent evolution of similar features in different lineages

Question 28

analogous features

Answer 28

features that share a similar function but not common ancestry

Question 29

endemic

Answer 29

found nowhere else in the world

Question 30

biogeography

Answer 30

the geographic distribution of species