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Theory of Evolution Vocabulary

AB
adaptationa trait that makes an organism more likely to survive and reproduce
common descentsimilar species share their ancestry
homologous structuresimilar function and structure amongst a group of species
vestigial structurehuman appendix, pelvic girdle in whales
natural selectionorganisms most well-suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce
homozygoushaving two identical alleles for a trait
heterozygoushaving a dominant and recessive allele for a trait
allelealternate form of a gene
speciesorganisms that have a similar appearance, can reproduce, and give rise to viable offspring
fitnessa measure of how likely it is that an organism will survive and reproduce
fossilremnant of a past life
embryologythe study of embryos
camouflageblending in with the environment
mimicryoccurs when a harmless organism looks similar to a harmful organism
microevolutionevolution that occurs within a single species
taxonomythe science of naming and classifying organisms
scientific namea unique 2-word Latin name assigned to a single species
binomial nomenclature2 names
phylogenygrouping organisms based upon evolutionary relationships
cladisticsa method of classifying organisms using shared derived characteristics
classificationCategorizing organisms into a hierarchy of names according to their relatedness
common descentsimilar species share their ancestry



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