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Question 1

difine adaptation

Answer 1

Heritable characteristics that increases the organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in
an environment.

Question 2

define Allele

Answer 2

One of a number of different forms of a gene.

Question 3

define Allele Frequency

Answer 3

Number of times that an allele occurs in a gene pool for that same gene.

Question 4

define Analogous Structures

Answer 4

Analogous structures DO NOT provide evidence of common ancestry but
they do display how the environment forces organisms to change. (Convergent Evolution – similar
environmental pressures lead to similar adaptations amongst UNRELATED species)

Question 5

define Embryology:

Answer 5

A branch of biology dealing with embryos and their development.

Question 6

define Evolution:

Answer 6

The gradual change of living organisms over time. The process by which modern organisms
have descended from ancient organisms.

Question 7

define Evolutionary Change:

Answer 7

A gradual change in the characteristics of a population of animals or plants over
successive generations; accounts for the origin of existing species from ancestors unlike them.

Question 8

define Fitness:

Answer 8

How well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment.

Question 9

define Fossil:

Answer 9

Preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms. Provide evidence of how life has changed
over time. Some fossils resemble species alive today, some fossils also provide evidence of extinction.

Question 10

define Founder Effect:

Answer 10

Can lead to a change in the gene pool as a result of the migration of a small subgroup
of a population.

Question 11

define Galapagos Islands:

Answer 11

A group of 15 islands in the Pacific west of Ecuador. These islands were close in
proximity but had significantly different climates. As a result, the environments on each island were
quite different from one another (habitat, resources, life)

Question 12

define Gene Flow:

Answer 12

Gene flow—also called migration—is any movement of genes from one population to
another.

Question 13

define Gene Pool:

Answer 13

All the genes, including all the differences alleles for each gene that are present in a
the population at any one time.

Question 14

define Genetic Drift:

Answer 14

Random change in the gene pool (allele frequency) caused by a series of chance
occurrences that cause a trait (allele) to become more or less common in a population.

Question 15

define Genetic Equilibrium:

Answer 15

The situation in which the gene pool (allele frequencies) in a population stay the
same.

Question 16

define Homologous Structures:

Answer 16

Structures which are similar in different species of common ancestry. The
structures may have a different external form and function because of the environments influence on
the species over time. Provide evidence for common ancestry! (Divergent evolution – organisms
occupy different niches and change in different ways over time but are still linked to a common
ancestor. The new environments they inhabit cause them to evolve in very different ways.)

Question 17

define Mutation:

Answer 17

Change in the genetic material of a cell.

Question 18

define Natural Selection:

Answer 18

A process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and
reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest.

Question 19

define Non-random Mating:

Answer 19

Mating that has not occurred due to chance. Non-random mating is sometimes
called sexual selection. It implies that organisms are selecting mates based on desired traits or fitness.
Non-random mating will lead to evolution of a population.

Question 20

define Population:

Answer 20

A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area.

Question 21

define Speciation:

Answer 21

Formation of a new species. Requires reproductive isolation – when a population is split,
and then over time will no longer reproduce with one another.

Question 22

define Vestigial Structures:

Answer 22

Structure that is inherited from ancestors but has lost all or most of its original
function.

Question 23

define Directional Selection, Disruptive Selection, Stabilizing Selection:

Answer 23

all three are examples of Natural
selection. The difference has to do with which PHENOTYPE is being selected for (PHENOTYPE =
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC). Directional involves the selection of the characteristic on the left or right
of the curve (ie. Biggest or smallest beaks). Disruptive Selection has to do with the selection of the
physical characteristics on BOTH the left and right of the curve (ie. Both Biggest and Smallest beaks).
Stabilizing selection has to do with the selection of the most average physical characteristic, the trait
closest to the middle of the curve (ie. Middle sized beaks)