A | B |
adaptation | a trait that makes an organism more likely to survive and reproduce |
common descent | similar species share their ancestry |
homologous structure | similar function and structure amongst a group of species |
vestigial structure | human appendix, pelvic girdle in whales |
natural selection | organisms most well-suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce |
homozygous | having two identical alleles for a trait |
heterozygous | having a dominant and recessive allele for a trait |
allele | alternate form of a gene |
species | organisms that have a similar appearance, can reproduce, and give rise to viable offspring |
fitness | a measure of how likely it is that an organism will survive and reproduce |
fossil | remnant of a past life |
embryology | the study of embryos |
camouflage | blending in with the environment |
mimicry | occurs when a harmless organism looks similar to a harmful organism |
microevolution | evolution that occurs within a single species |
taxonomy | the science of naming and classifying organisms |
scientific name | a unique 2-word Latin name assigned to a single species |
binomial nomenclature | 2 names |
phylogeny | grouping organisms based upon evolutionary relationships |
cladistics | a method of classifying organisms using shared derived characteristics |
classification | Categorizing organisms into a hierarchy of names according to their relatedness |
common descent | similar species share their ancestry |