Natural Selection Flashcards
adaptation
a characteristic that improves an individual ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
species
a group of orginisms that are closley related and can mate to produce fertile offspring
evolution
the process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generations such that new species sometimes arise.
Fossil
the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.
Fossil Record
The fossil record helps paleontologists, archaeologists, and geologists place important events and species in the appropriate geologic era.
trait
A trait, as related to genetics, is a specific characteristic of an individual.
Selective Breeding
A trait, as related to genetics, is a specific characteristic of an individual.
Natural Selection
the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Generation time
Generation time is the average interval between the birth of an individual and the birth of its offspring.
Speciation
the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.
Relative Dating
Archaeologists use two kinds of dating methods relative dating and absolute dating.
Absolute Dating
Absolute dating methods measure the physical properties of an object itself and use these measurements to calculate its age.
Geologic Time Scale
The geologic time scale is the “calendar” for events in Earth history.
Extinct
of a species, family, or other group of animals or plants) having no living members; no longer in existence.
Plate Tectonics
the sections into which the lithosphere is cracked.
