| A | B |
|---|
| species | group of organism that share similar characteristics and can reporduce among themselves producing fertile offspring |
| evolution | change in inherited characteristics over time |
| natuarl selection | a process by which organisms with traits best suted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce |
| variation | inherited trait that makes an individual different from other members of the same species and results from a mutation in the organism's genes |
| adaptation | any variation that makes an organism better suited to its environment |
| gradualism | model describing evolution as a slow process by which one species changes into a new species through a continuing series of mutations and variations over time |
| punctuated equilibrium | model describing the rapid evolution that occurs when amutation of a few genes results in a species suddenly changing into a new species |
| camouflage | an example of adaptation |
| sedimentary | a type of rock that is most likely to contain fossils and is formed when layers of sand, silt, clay, or mud are cemented together or when mineral s are deposited from a solution |
| radioactive element | element that gives off a steady amount of radiation as it slowly changes to a nonradioactive element |
| embryology | the study of an organism's early development |
| homologous | body parts that are similar in structure and origin and can be similar in function |
| vestigial structures | a structure that doesn't seem to have a function and may once have functioned in the body of an ancestor |
| radiometric dating | the most accurate method for estimating the age of a fossil |
