| A | B |
|---|
| adaptation | an physical characteristic or behavior that helps an organism to better survive |
| competition | the interaction among organisms to better obtain resources or mating opportunities over others in order to survive |
| descent with modification | another term for evolution; the idea that all organisms share a common ancestor but that species change over time due to the natural selection of favorable adaptations |
| evolution | the gradual change of living organisms over time |
| habitat | the place where an organism lives |
| natural selection | a process of nature that favors organisms that are best adapted to their environment |
| overproduction | creating more offspring than can be supported by the environment |
| population | organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same timie and compete for resources such as food and water |
| reproductive success | the passing on of genes to the next generation |
| species | a group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring |
| struggle for existence | the idea that organisms must compete with one another and that only the most fit will survive |
| variation (or genetic variation) | differences in a specific trait found within a population |
| stabilizing selection | when natural selection favors average individuals in a population; ex: average size in insects |
| directional selection | natural selection favors organisms with an extreme form of a trait |
| disruptive selection | natural selection that favors organisms with extremes in both directions and eliminates the traits in the middle |
| gene pool | the total number of different gene variations available to species |
| genetic diversity | having a variety of traits resulting in differences within a species and among different species |
| mutations | changes in the genetic code |
| bottleneck effect | genetic drift that results from a devastating event that greatly reduces the poplation size and the diversity of genes in the population |
| emigration | the movement of an organism away from a population or location |
| founder effect | genetic drift that results when a new colony is formed by a small population with a limited gene pool |
| gene flow | the movement of genes or alleles into or out of a population |
| genetic drift | a process that changes the gene pool just because of chance and affects small populations the most |
| immigration | the movement of an organism into a new population or location |
| common ancestor | the 'parent' species from which two or more separate species evolved |
| divergent evolution | the accumulation of differences that results in the formation of different species from a common ancestor |
| speciation | the formation of a new species through the process of divergent evolution |
| adaptive radiation | the rapid diversification and speciatin from a single common ancestor often seen on islands |
| allopatric speciation | the formation of a new species by geographic isolation |
| geographical isolation | separation of a population due to a physical barrier; the separation can result in speciation |
| habitat | an area with distinct characteristics where a plant or animal may live |
| reproductive isolation | the inability of populations to interbreed due to any number of barriers |
| subspecies | a geographically isolated population of a species that has its own distinct characteristics but is still capable of breeding with other populations of its own species |
| behavioral isolation | a type of reproductive isolation between populations due to differeces in courtship or other mating behaviors |
| mechanical isolation | a type of reproductive isolation between npopulations due to differences in the size, shape, and/or location of genitalia |
| temporal isolation | a type of reproductive isolation that occurs when a species develops different reproductive cycles |
| paleo-, archeo- | old, ancient |
| para- | beside |
| patho- | disease |
| ped, pod | feet, foot |
| pent- | 5 |
| peri- | around |
| phago, troph, vore | to feed or eat |
| phore | carry, to bear |
| photo-, lumin | light |
| phyte, phyto | plant |
