Processes
How species change through time
What is evolution?
A concept that has been well tested and is accepted as an explanation to a wide range of observations
What is a scientific theory?
A group of genetically similar organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring
What is a species?
The process in which organisms that have advantages survive and pass their genes onto their offspring
What is natural selection?
Inherited trait that improves an organism's chances of survival and reproduction in a given environment
What is an adaptation?
A group of the same organism that occupies a specific area in a specific time
What is a population?
The struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources
What is competition?
Similar structures that have different functions as a result of evolution
What is homologous?
Evolutionary history of a species
What is phylogeny?
The random appearance of a new trait in an organism
What is mutation?
A feature that has become unnecessary or has disappeared through the process of evolution
What is vestigial?
A type of diagram that shows the relationship of organisms to their ancestors as well as common ancestry
What is a phylogenic tree?
The process in which new species evolve as a result of genetic isolation from the main population
What is speciation?
Structures that perform the same function although they don't have the same evolutionary origins
What is analogous?
Any trace or remains of a once living organism that has been preserved by natural processes
What is a fossil?