| A | B |
|---|
| evolution | process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors |
| species | group of organisms so similar to one another so that they can reproduce and have fertile offspring |
| fossil | traces of organisms that existed in the past |
| catastrophism | theory that states that natural disasters have happened often during Earth's long history |
| gradualism | principle that states that the changes in landforms result from slow changes over a long period of time |
| uniformitarianism | theory that states that the geolagic processes that shape Earth are uniformed through time |
| Darwin | known for theory of evolution |
| Linnaeus | developed classification system for organisms based on similarities |
| variation | difference in the physical traits of an individual from those of other individuals in the group to which it belongs |
| adaptation | feature that allows an organism a better chance of survival in its environment |
| artificial selection | process by which humans change a species by breeding it for certain traits |
| heritability | ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next |
| natural selection | mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptation that produce more offspring on average than others do |
| population | group of species that live in the same area |
| fitness | measurement of the ability to survive and reproduce more than others do |
| biogeography | study of the distrubution of organisms around the world |
| homologous structure | feature that is similar in structure, but different in appearance in organisms |
| analogous structure | structure that performs a similar function |
| vestigial structure | remnant of an organ that had a function in an early ancestor |
| paleontology | study of fossils |
