Natural Selection

Question 1

DNA

Answer 1

deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule that is present in all living cells and that contains the information that determines the traits that a living thing inherits and needs to live.

Question 2

Nucleotide

Answer 2

In a nucleotide-acid chain, a subunit that consists of a sugar, a phosphate, and a nitrogenous base.

Question 3

Fossil Record

Answer 3

A historical sequence of life indicated by fossils found in layers of the Earth’s crust.

Question 4

Mutations

Answer 4

A change in the nucleotide-base sequence of a gene or DNA molecule

Question 5

Adaption

Answer 5

A characteristic that improves an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

Question 6

Species

Answer 6

A group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.

Question 7

Evolution

Answer 7

The processes in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generations such that new species sometimes arise.

Question 8

Speciation

Answer 8

The formation of new species as a result of evolution.

Question 9

Trait

Answer 9

A genetically determined characteristic.

Question 10

Selective Breeding

Answer 10

The human practice of breeding animals or plants that have certain desired characteristics.

Question 11

Natural Selection

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Generation Time

Answer 12

The period between the birth of one generation and the birth of the next generation.

Question 13

Chargaff’s Rule

Answer 13

Chargaff’s rules state that DNA from any cell of all organisms should have a 1:1 ratio (base Pair Rule) of pyrimidine and purine bases and, more specifically, that the amount of guanine is equal to cytosine and the amount of adenine is equal to thymine.

Question 14

Homo Sapian

Answer 14

Homo sapiens is the binomial nomenclature for the only known extant human species.

Question 15

Watson and Crick

Answer 15

Watson and Crick worked together on studying the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecule that contains the hereditary information for cells. At that time Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, both working at King’s College, London, were using X-ray diffraction to study DNA.

Question 16

Primates

Answer 16

A primate is a mammal of the order Primates. In taxonomy, primates include two distinct lineages, strepsirrhines and haplorhines.

Question 17

Speciation

Answer 17

Speciation is the evolutionary process by which biological populations evolve to become distinct species.

Question 18

Charles Darwin

Answer 18

Was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.

Question 19

Rosalind Franklin

Answer 19

Rosalind Elsie Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who made contributions to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite.

Question 20

Hominid

Answer 20

a primate of a family ( Hominidae ) that includes humans and their fossil ancestors and also (in recent systems) at least some of the great apes.