This science involves naming and grouping organisms.
What is taxonomy?
This mechanism drives evolutionary change in populations.
What is natural selection?
This term describes change in heritable characteristics over generations.
What is evolution?
This process increases genetic variation through crossing over and independent assortment.
What is sexual reproduction?
This scientist developed the traditional hierarchical classification system.
Who is Linnaeus?
Random changes in DNA that create new alleles are called this.
What are mutations?
Structures with similar anatomy due to common ancestry are called these.
What are homologous structures?
This type of evolution occurs when unrelated organisms independently evolve similar traits.
What is convergent evolution?
This group contains a common ancestor and all of its descendants.
What is a clade?
This term describes the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce.
What is biological fitness?
This type of speciation occurs through geographical isolation.
What is allopatric speciation?
This random process changes allele frequencies most strongly in small populations.
What is genetic drift?
This type of evidence is considered most reliable for determining evolutionary relationships.
What is molecular evidence (DNA or amino acid sequences)?
This type of selection favours intermediate phenotypes.
What is stabilising selection?
This process rapidly produces many species from one ancestral species.
What is adaptive radiation?
These barriers prevent gene flow between populations and promote speciation.
What are reproductive barriers (or reproductive isolation mechanisms)?
This molecule was used by Woese to develop the three-domain classification system.
What is rRNA?
This principle predicts allele frequencies in a non-evolving population.
What is Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
This condition occurs when organisms possess more than two sets of chromosomes.
What is polyploidy?
This process occurs when reproductive isolation and genetic divergence result in the formation of a new species.
What is speciation?