Genetics Flashcards
What is a heritable trait?
A characteristic that is passed down from parent to offspring; is influenced by genes
What is evolution?
Changes in DNA generation to generation
What’s another name for evolution?
Descent with modification
How is evolution viewed as a pattern?
Observation in how the population evolve over time
How is evolution viewed as a process?
Explaining why populations have to evolve to survive
How does looking at fossil records relate to evolution?
It can show us what species exist in the past and how their descendants evolves from them
What are adaptations?
Inherited characteristics of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments
What is natural selection?
A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than do other individuals because of those traits
What is artificial selection?
Modifications done to other species over many generations by selecting and breeding individuals that possess desired traits
How can a favorable inherited trait help an offspring?
It helps them cope with the specific environment challenges so they can survive and reproduce
With natural selection does the individual or the population evolve overtime?
The population evolves over time b/c as the individuals gained favorable traits so do their offspring changing the gene pool of the future generation
What is homology?
When characteristics from an ancestor was changed by natural selection overtime as their descendants faced diff. environmental challenges; species having similar traits but them functioning differently
What is a way to see if evolution has occurred?
By comparing similarities from diff. organisms
What is a homologous structure?
Variations in a structural theme that was present in their common ancestors; the skeleton of the arm in mammals; share common ancestry but not really similar function
What are vestigial structures?
Remnants of features that helped out the species’ ancestors but don’t serve a purpose in the descendant; can relate to a descendant having genes that don’t code for anything b/c the ancestor had them
