Natural Selection and Adaptation Flashcards
Binary fission
one parental cell divides into two daughter cells(identical daughter cell)
Asexual reproduction
is a type of reproduction where a single organism can reproduce without the involvement of another organism or the fusion of gametes
Population
group of individuals of the same species
Gene transfer
the process by which organisms exchange segments of DNA between them
DNA replication
is the biological process by which a cell makes an exact copy of its DNA
Evolution
change in allele frequencies in a population over time(affects populations not individuals)
Fitness
an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment is called fitness (higher fitnes == highest offspring)
Abundance
refers to the number of individuals of a particular species living within a defined geographic area
Natural selection
the process where organism that are better adapted to their environment survive and have the most offspring
Adaptation
the process by which populations become better suited to their environment as a result of natural selection
Directional selection
when the environment favors an extreme phenotype, causing the population to shift in one direction over time
Stabilizing selection
in which organisms near the middle of the phenotype range of variation are favored by the environment. Example (Human birth weight)
Diversifying selection
in which organisms with phenotypes at both extremes of range are favored by the environment. Example : birds with medium size beak are not as successful at cracking either type of seed, small and big ones have advantage
Gene flow
transfer of genetic material of one population to another
Gene pool
collection of all genes including alleles present within a population
