Evolutionary Basics Flashcards
Adaptation
specific feature of an organism that helps members of a species overcome important survival hurdles
Natural Selection
idea that features of organisms that are adaptive are selected and retained as part of the species
Reproductive Success (RS)
ability of an organism to reproduce
Evolution
a change in heritable characteristics of biological populations
Sexual Selection
qualities that are selected that facilitate reproduction
Selfish Gene
idea that genes that lead to their own replication are likely to be selected
Fitness
when some feature of an organism fits well with nature of the environment
Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness (EEA)
environment that an organism evolved in (ex: humans- Africa)
Evolutionary mismatch
when modern conditions of not match the qualities of EEA (ex: fears of snakes and spiders)
Multilevel Selection
several evolutionary forces work at the same time
Genetic Drift
some genes become more prevalent in populations randomly
Spandrels
evolutionary by-products
Trade-off
a cost to evolutionary benefits (ex: peacocks’ feathers)
Cultural Evolution
a quick change, unlike organic evolution
Meme
cultural unit that has the capacity to replicate
