Life Science Vocabulary

Question 1

Natural Selection

Answer 1

when random genetic mutations occur in an organism, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival

Question 2

Evolution

Answer 2

Species change over time

Question 3

Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

Answer 3

believed that species evolve by passing acquired characteristics to offspring

Question 4

HMS Beagle

Answer 4

the name of the ship in which Darwin sailed on a five-year voyage collecting specimens of plants and animals; mapping the coast of South America

Question 5

Charles Darwin

Answer 5

founder of Evolutional Theory

Question 6

Variation

Answer 6

Individuals in a population inherit slightly different combinations of traits

Question 7

Adaption

Answer 7

inherited characteristic that improves an organism ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

Question 8

Geographic Isolation

Answer 8

Isolation between populations due to physical barriers

Question 9

Reproductive Isolation

Answer 9

separation of populations that prevents them from interbreeding and producing fertile offspring

Question 10

Behavioral Isolation

Answer 10

an isolating mechanism in which two species don’t mate because of differences in courtship behaviors.

Question 11

Biodiversity

Answer 11

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Question 12

Embryology

Answer 12

The branch of biology that deals with the formation, embryonic structure, early growth, and development of living organisms.

Question 13

Homologous Structure

Answer 13

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.

Question 14

Vestigal Structure

Answer 14

a body structure in present-day organisms that no longer serves its original purpose

Question 15

DNA Evidence

Answer 15

Connect an offender conclusively to a crime through biological evidence

Question 16

Clues and Evolution

Answer 16

Physical evidence of evolution that exists long after the change. (think dinosaur fossils)

Question 17

Overpopulation

Answer 17

circumstances of too much of a population to be supported by the population’s environment.

Question 18

Population

Answer 18

All the members of one species in a particular area.

Question 19

Carrying Capacity

Answer 19

number of species that the resources of an ecosystem can support

Question 20

Species

Answer 20

group of similar organisms.

Question 21

Competition

Answer 21

The struggle amongst organisms for the same limited resources

Question 22

Mutation

Answer 22

Random changes in DNA

Question 23

Structural Adaption

Answer 23

a physical feature on an animal which aids survival

Question 24

Physiological Adaption

Answer 24

an alteration in function, that is hereditary, by which a species or an individual improves its condition in relation to the environment