Scientists
Who is known as the father of evolution?
Charles Darwin
What is the process called where the best adapted organisms survive and reproduce?
Natural selection
What is it called when an organism produces more offspring than can survive?
overproduction
What is a species?
A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
What thing shows changes in organisms over time?
Fossil
What is the name of Darwin’s famous book published in 1859?
On the Origin of Species
Fill in the blank: "Survival of the _______."
Fittest
What random changes in DNA can lead to new traits?
Mutations
What is it called when humans choose specific traits to breed for (ex: dogs)?
Artificial selection
Structures that are similar in different species are called what? (Example: arm bones)
Homologous structures
What islands inspired much of Darwin’s work on evolution?
The Galápagos Islands
What can cause an organism to be better suited to its environment?
Adaptations (such as better camouflage, sharper teeth, thicker fur, etc.)
What is it called when small changes build up over millions of years?
Gradualism/ Evolution
What is a well tested concept that explains a wide range of observations?
A scientific theory
What are body parts called that are no longer useful but still present?
Vestigial structures (like a human appendix or whale pelvis)
What birds did Darwin study that helped him develop his theory?
Finches
Give an example of a trait that might help an animal survive.
Example answers: Camouflage for a lizard, thicker fur for a polar bear, long neck for a giraffe.
What is competition?
What is a common ancestor?
An ancestor shared by two or more species.
What field studies embryos to show common ancestry?
Embryology
What did Darwin discover through his studies?
Name two environmental factors that can drive natural selection.
Examples: Climate changes, predators, food availability, diseases.
___________ refers to differences in the traits among individuals in a population.
Adaptive radiation (example: Darwin’s finches evolving into different species)
How does reproduction increase genetic variation?
It mixes genes from two parents, creating more variation among offspring.
True or False: DNA comparisons can show evolutionary relationships.
True (DNA can show how closely related species are.)