History of Evolutionary Thought: Vocab- Part 1 Flashcards
the numeric age of an object or event, often stated in years before the present, as established by an absolute-dating process, such as radiometric dating
Absolute age
the process of becoming adopted to an environment; an anatomical, physiological, or behavioral trait that improves an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce
Adaptation
an evolutionary pattern in which many species evolve from a single ancestral species
Adaptive radiation
the proportion of gene copies in a population that are a given allele, expressed as a percentage
Allele frequency
an anatomical structure in one species that is similar in function and appearance, but not in evolutionary origin, to another anatomical structure in another species
Analogous structures
the selective breeding of organisms(by humans) for specific desirable characteristics
Artificial selection
on a graph of the frequency of some variable, a curve that first rises and then falls and thus forms a symmetric bell-shaped curve
Bell curve
the study of the geographical distribution of living organisms and fossils on earth
Biogeography
the evolution of two or more species that is due to mutual influence, often in a way that makes the relationship more mutually beneficial
Coevolution
the process by which unrelated species become more similar as they adapt to the same kind of environment
Convergent evolution
a type of natural selection in which the most extreme form of a trait is favored and becomes more common
Directional selection
a type of natural selection in which two extreme forms of a trait are selected
Disruptive selection
the process by which two or more related but reproductively isolated populations become more and more dissimilar
Divergent evolution
the movement of an individual or group out of an area
Emigration
a heritable change in the characteristics within a population from one generation to the next; the development of new types of organisms from preexisting types of organisms over time
Evolution
in evolutionary theory, a measure of an individual’s hereditary contribution to the next generation
fitness
the trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock
fossil
random change in allele frequencies in a population
genetic drift
the movement of genes into or out of a population due to interbreeding
gene flow
all of the genes of the reproductively active members of a population
gene pool
the physical separation of populations due to geographic barriers that prevent interbreeding
geographic isolation
a model of evolution in which gradual change over a long period of time leads to biological diversity
gradualism
anatomical structures in one species that, compared to other anatomical structures in another species, originated from a single anatomical structure in a common ancestor of the two species
homologous structures
that principal that states that the frequency of alleles in a population doesn’t change over generations unless outside forces act on the population
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium/principal
the movement of an individual or group into an area
Immigration
a change in the collective genetic material of a population
Microevolution
the study of the structure and form of an organism
Morphology
The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do; a theory to explain the mechanism of evolution
natural selection
the ratio of individuals with a particular phenotype to the total number of individuals in a population
phenotype frequency
The evolutionary history of a species or taxonomic group; the relationships by ancestry among species or taxonomic groups
Phylogeny
the study of the frequency and interactions of alleles and genes in a population
population genetics
a model of evolution in which short periods of drastic change in species, including max extinctions and rapid separation, are separated by long periods of little or no change
puncuated equilibrium
the age of an object in relation to the ages of other objects
relative age
the inability of members of a population to successfully interbreed with members of another population of the same or a related species
reproductive isolation
An evolutionary mechanism by which traits that increase the ability of individuals to attract or acquire mates appear with increasing frequency in a population; selection in which a mate is chosen on the basis of a particular trait or traits
sexual selection
the evolutionary adaptation of a cell, organ, organism, or population for a particular function or environment
Specilization
a type of natural selection in which the average form of a trait is favored and becomes more common
stabalizing selection
layers of rock
strata
a principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks if the layers have not been disturbed
Superposition
a structure in an organism that is reduced in size and function and that may have been complete and functional in the organism’s ancestors
vestigial structures
