Unit - vocabulary Flashcards
Ecology
The study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment
Evolution (1)
Any change in the genetic characteristics (allele frequencies) of a population over time
Evolution (2)
The theory that all organisms on Earth are related by common ancestry and that they have changed over time (and continued to change) via natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, and mutation
Evolution
A change in allele frequencies in a population
Allele
One of two (or more alternate forms) of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on the chromosomes
Population
All the organisms of the same group or species that live in a specific area and are capable of breeding amongst themselves
Hardy-Weinberg Principle
Given a set of parental allele frequencies, the Hardy-Weinberg principle predicts what genotype frequencies and allele frequencies will occur in the next generation
Genetic drift
Any change in allele frequencies in a population that is due to chance
Causes allele frequencies to drift up and down randomly over time
Occurs in every population & is random in respect to fitness
Founder effect
Change in allele frequencies that occurs when a new population is established
Genetic bottleneck
A sudden reduction in the diversity of alleles in a population
Gene flow
The movement of alleles between populations; is random (can increase, decrease, or have no effects) with respect to fitness
Transitional features
Trait in a fossil species that is intermediate between those ancestral (older) and derived (younger) species
Vestigial traits
A reduced or incompletely developed structure that has no/reduced function but is clearly similar to functioning organs of structures in ancestral species or closely related species
Homology
Similarity that exists in species due to common ancestry
Fitness
The ability of an individual to produce surviving, fertile offspring relative to that ability in other individuals in the population
