Biology 2 Flashcards
(332 cards)
1
Q
What is speciation?
A
[Speciation is] the evolution of two or more distinct species from a single ancestral species.
2
Q
What is a species?
A
[A species is] an evolutionary independent population or group of populations. Generally, distinct from other species in appearance, behavior, habitat, ecology, genetic characteristics and so on.
3
Q
What is the biological species concept?
A
[The biological species concept is] the definition of a species as a population or group of populations that are reproductively isolated from other groups. Members of a species have the potential to interbreed in nature to produce viable, fertile offspring but cannot interbreed successively with members of other species.
4
Q
What is prezygotic isolation
A
[Prezygotic isolation is] reproductive isolation resulting from any of the several mechanisms that prevent individuals from two different species from mating.
5
Q
What is postzygotic isolation?
A
[Postzygotic isolation is] reproductive isolation resulting from mechanisms that operate after the mating of two individuals from different species occurs. The most common mechanisms are the death of hybrid embryos or reduced fitness of hybrids.
6
Q
What is the morphospecies concept?
A
[The morphospecies concept is] the definition of a species as a population or group of populations that have measurably different anatomical features from other groups.
7
Q
What are polymorphic species?
A
[A polymorphic species is] a species that has two or more distinct phenotypes in the same interbreeding population at the same time.
8
Q
What are cryptic species?
A
[Cryptic species are] species that cannot be easily distinguished from similar species by identifiable morphological traits.
9
Q
What is the phylogenetic species concept?
A
[The phylogenetic species concept is] the definition of a species as the smallest monophyletic group in a phylogenetic tree.
10
Q
What is a subspecies?
A
[A subspecies is] a population that has distinctive traits and some genetic differences relative to other populations of the same species but that is not distinct enough to be classified as a separate species.
11
Q
What is allopatry?
A
[Allopatry is] the condition in which two or more populations live in different geographic areas.
12
Q
What allopatric speciation?
A
[Allopatric speciation, or geographic isolation, is] the speciation that occurs when populations of the same species become geographically isolated, often because of dispersal or vicariance.
13
Q
What is vicariance?
A
[Vicariance is] the physical splitting of a population into smaller, isolated populations by a geographic barrier.
14
Q
What is biogeography?
A
[Biogeography is] the study of how species and populations are distributed geographically.
15
Q
What is sympatry?
A
[Sympatry is] a condition in which two or more populations live in the same geographic area, or close enough to permit interbreeding.
16
Q
What is sympatric speciation?
A
[Sympatric speciation is] the divergence of populations living within the same geographic area into different species as the result of their genetic, not physical, isolation.
17
Q
What is polyploidy?
A
[Polyploidy is] the state of having more than two full sets of chromosomes, either from the same species or from different species.
18
Q
What is autopolyploidy?
A
[Autoploidy is] the state of having more than two full sets of chromosomes because of a mutation that doubled the chromosome number.
19
Q
What is allopolyploidy?
A
[Alloploidy is] the state of having more than two full sets of chromosomes because of hybridization between different species.
20
Q
What is reinforcement?
A
[Reinforcement,] in evolutionary biology, is the natural selection of traits that prevent interbreeding between diverged species.
21
Q
What is hybrid zone?
A
[A hybrid zone is] a geographic area where interbreeding occurs between two species, sometimes producing fertile offspring.
22
Q
What is phylogeny?
A
[A phylogeny is] the evolutionary history of a species.
23
Q
What is a phylogenetic tree?
A
[A phylogenetic tree is] a branching diagram that depicts the evolutionary relationships among species of taxa.
24
Q
What is the tree of life?
A
[The tree of life is] the phylogenetic tree that includes all organisms.
25
What are branches?
[A branch is] part of a phylogenetic tree that represents populations through time.
26
What are nodes?
[In the phylogenetic tree, nodes are] the point where two branches diverge, representing the point in time when an ancestral group split into two or more descendant groups.
27
What are sister groups?
[Sister groups are] two or more lineages that share a recent common ancestor at the node where branches meet.
28
What are tips?
[Tips, or terminal nodes, are] the endpoint of a branch; they represent a living or extinct group of genes, species, families, phyla, or other taxa.
29
What are outgroups?
[An outgroup is] a taxon that is closely related to the taxa studied, but that diverge earlier; a sister taxa to the group being studied.
30
What is polytomy?
[Polytomy is] a node in a phylogenetic tree that depicts an ancestral branch dividing into three or more descendant branches; this usually indicates that insufficient data were available to resolve which taxa are more closely related.
31
What is a character?
[A character is] any genetic, morphological, physiological, developmental, or behavioral characteristic of an organism to be studied. This is also a called a trait.
32
What is an ancestral trait?
[An ancestral trait] is a trait found in the ancestors of a group.
33
What is a derived trait?
[A derived trait is] a trait that is modified form of an ancestral trait, found in a descendant.
34
What is the cladistic approach?
[The cladistic approach is] a method for constructing a phylogenetic tree that is based on identifying the unique traits.
35
What is synapomorphy?
[Synapomorphy is] a shared, derived trait found in two or more taxa that is present in their most recent common ancestor but is missing in more distant ancestors.
36
What is homoplasy?
[Homoplasy is] the similarity between organisms of different species because of reasons other than common ancestry, such as convergent evolution.
37
What is a polyphyletic group?
[A polyphyletic group is] an unnatural group based on convergent characteristics that are not present in a common ancestor.
38
What is a paraphyletic group?
[A paraphyletic group is] a group that includes an ancestral population and some but not all of its descendants.
39
What is convergent evolution?
[Convergent evolution is] the independent evolution of similar traits in different species due to adaptation to similar environmental conditions and similar ways of life.
40
What are paleontologists?
[Paleontologists are] scientists who study the fossil record and history of life.
41
What does it mean to be Precambrian?
[Precambrian refers to] the interval between the formation of the Earth, about 4.6 million years ago, and the appearance of most animal groups about 541 million years ago. Unicellular organisms were dominant for most of this era, and oxygen was virtually absent for the first two billion years.
42
What is the Paleozoic era?
[The Paleozoic era is] the interval of geologic time, from five hundred and forty-one million to two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, during which fungi, land plants, and most animal lineages first appeared and diversified. It began with the Cambrian explosion and ended with the extinction of almost all multicellular life-forms at the end of the Permian period.
43
What is the Mesozoic era?
[The Mesozoic era is] the interval of geologic time, from two hundred and fifty-two million to sixty-six million years ago during which gymnosperms were the dominant plants and dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrates. It ended with the extinction of dinosaurs.
44
What is the Cenozoic era?
[The Cenozoic era is] the most recent interval of geologic time, beginning sixty-six million years ago, during which mammals became the dominant vertebrates and angiosperms became the dominant plants.
45
What is adaptive radiation?
[Adaptive radiation is] rapid evolutionary diversification in one lineage, producing many descendant species with a wide range of adaptive forms.
46
What is the Cambrian explosion?
[The Cambrian explosion is] the rapid diversification of animal body types and lineages that occurred during a 50-million-year period about 541 mya at the start of the Proterozoic era.
47
What are fauna?
[Fauna are] all the animal species characteristics of a particular region, period, or environment.
48
What is mass extinction?
[Mass extinction is] the extinction of a large number of diverse organisms around the world during a short period of geologic time. This may occur because of sudden and extraordinary environmental changes.
49
What is background extinction?
[Background extinction is] the average rate of low-level extinction that has occurred continuously throughout evolutionary history.
50
What is the impact hypothesis?
[The impact hypothesis is] the hypothesis that a collision between Earth and an asteroid caused mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary, 66 million years ago.
51
What is Bacteria?
[Bacteria is] one of the three taxonomic domains of life, consisting of unicellular prokaryotes distinguished by cell walls composed largely of peptidoglycan, plasma membranes similar to those of eukaryotic cell, and ribosomes and RNA polymerases that differ from those of archaea of eukaryotes.
52
What is Archaea?
[Archaea is] one of the three taxonomic domains of the life, consisting of unicellular prokaryotes distinguished by cell walls made of certain polysaccharides not found in bacterial or eukaryotic cell walls, plasma membranes composed of unique isoprene-containing phospholipids, and ribosomes and RNA polymerase similar to those of eukaryotes.
53
What is Eukarya?
[Eukarya is] one of the three taxonomic domains of life, consisting of unicellular organisms (most protists, yeasts) and multicellular organisms (fungi, plants, animals) distinguished by a membrane bound cell nucleus, numerous organelles, and an extensive cytoskeleton.
54
What are microbes?
[Microbes are] any microscopic organism, including bacteria, archaea, and various tiny eukaryotes.
55
What are phyla?
[Phyla are], in Linnaeus’ system, taxonomic category above the class level and below the kingdom level. In plants, sometimes called a division.
56
What is microbiology?
[Microbiology is] the field of study concerned with microscopic organisms.
57
What are extremophiles?
[An extremophile is] an organism that thrives in an “extreme” environment (e.g., high-salt, high-temperature, low-temperature, or high-pressure).
58
What are pathogens?
[A pathogen is] any entity capable of causing disease, such as microbes, virus or prion.
59
What are Koch’s postulates?
[Koch’s postulates are] four criteria used to determine whether a suspected infectious agent causes a particular disease.
60
What is the germ theory of disease?
[The germ theory of disease is] the theory that that infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, and other microbes.
61
What are infectious diseases?
[An infectious disease is] disease caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites that can be transmitted from one organism to another or acquired from the environment.
62
What are toxins?
[A toxin is] a poison produced by a living organism, such as plant, animal or microorganism.
63
What are endospores?
[An endospore is] a tough resistant reproductive structure formed in certain bacteria in response to poor environmental conditions.
64
What are antibiotics?
[Antibiotics are] any substance, such as penicillin, that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria.
65
What are biofilms?
[A biofilm is a] complex community of bacteria enmeshed in a polysaccharide-rich, extracellular matrix that allows the bacteria to attach to a surface.
66
What is bioremediation?
[Bioremediation is] the use of living organisms, usually bacteria or archaea, to degrade environmental pollutants.
67
What is enrichment culture?
[Enrichment culture is a] method of detecting and obtaining cells with specific characteristics by placing a sample, containing many types of cells, under a specific set of conditions (e.g, temperature, salt concentration, available nutrients) and isolating those cells that grow rapidly in response.
68
What are thermophiles?
[A thermophile is] a bacterium or archaean that thrives in very hot environments.
69
What is environmental sequencing?
[Environmental sequencing, metagenomics, is] the inventory of all the genes in a community of ecosystem created by sequencing, analyzing, and comparing the genomes of the component organisms. Often refers to the study of microbial communities.
70
What is direct sequencing?
[Direct sequencing is] a technique for identifying and studying organisms that cannot be grown in culture. Involves detecting and amplifying copies of specific genes in the microorganisms’ DNA, sequencing those genes, and then comparing the sequences with the known sequences from other organisms.
71
What is a microbiome?
[A microbiome is] the ecological community of microbes that share a particular space (e.g., the human gut).
72
What is the tree of life?
[The tree of life is] the phylogenetic tree that includes all organisms.
73
What is binary fission?
[Binary fission is] the process of cell division used for asexual reproduction of many prokaryotic cells. The genetic material is replicated and partitioned to opposites sides of a growing cell, which then divides in half, creating two genetically identical cells.
74
What is lateral gene transfer?
[Lateral gene transfer is the] transfer of DNA between two different species.
75
What is a monophyletic group?
[A monophyletic group is] is an evolutionary unit that includes an ancestral population and all of its descendants but no others. Also called a clade or lineage.
76
What is transformation?
[Transformation is the] (1) incorporation of external DNA into a cell. Occurs naturally in some bacteria; can be introduced in the laboratory. (2) Conversion of a normal mammalian cell to one that divides uncontrollably.
77
What is transduction?
[Transduction is] (1) the conversion of information from one mode to another. For example, the process by which a stimulus outside a cell is converted into a response by the cell. (2) The transfer of DNA from one bacterial cell to another.
78
What is conjugation?
[Conjugation is] the transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact by formation of a bridge-like connection structure.
79
What is a plasmid?
[A plasmid is] a small, usually circular, supercoiled DNA molecule independent of the cell’s main chromosome(s) in prokaryotes.
80
What is a Gram stain?
[A gram stain is] a dye that distinguishes the two general types of cell walls found in bacteria. Used to routinely classify bacteria as Gram-negative or Gram-positive.
81
What does it mean for bacteria to be Gram-positive?
[Gram-positive is] describing bacteria that look purple when treated with a Gram-stain. These bacteria have cell walls composed of a thick layer of peptidoglycan and no outer phospholipid layer.
82
What does it mean for bacteria to be Gram-negative?
[Gram-negative is] describing bacteria that look purple when treated with a Gram stain. These bacteria have cell walls composed of a thin layer of peptidoglycan and an outer phospholipid layer.
83
What are phototrophs?
[A phototroph is] an organism (most plants, algae, and some bacteria and archaea) that produces ATP through phosphorylation.
84
What are chemoorganotrophs?
[A chemoorganotroph is] an organism that produces ATP by oxidizing organic molecules with high potential energy such as sugars. Also called organotrophs.
85
What are chemolithotrophs?
[A chemolithotroph is] an organism (bacteria or archaea) that produces ATP by oxidizing inorganic molecules with high potential, such as ammonia (NH3) or methane (CH4). Also called lithotroph.
86
What are autotrophs?
[Autotrophs are] any organism that can synthesize reduced organic compounds from simple inorganic sources such as CO2, or CH4. Most plants and some bacteria and archaea are autotrophs
87
What are heterotrophs?
[Heterotrophs are] any organism that cannot synthesize reduced organic molecules from inorganic sources and that must obtain them from other organisms. Some bacteria, some archaea, and virtually all fungi and animals are heterotrophs. Also called consumer.
88
What is fermentation?
[Fermentation is] any of several metabolic pathways in the cytosol that regenerate oxidizing agents, such as NAD+, by transferring electrons to an electron acceptor in the absence of an electron transport chain. Allows pathways such as glycolysis to continue making ATP.
89
What is photophosphorylation?
[Photophosphorylation is the production of ATP molecules by ATP synthase using the proton-motive force generated either (1) as light-excited electrons flow through an electron transport chain during photosynthesis, or (2) as rhodopsin-like molecules in some bacteria or archaea absorb light to pump protons across their plasma membranes to create a chemiosmotic gradient.
90
What is photosynthesis?
[Photosynthesis is] the complex biological process that converts light energy to chemical energy stored in the carbohydrate G3P. Occurs in most plants, algae, and some bacteria.
91
What does it mean to be oxygenic?
[Oxygenic is] referring to any process or reaction that produces oxygen. Photosynthesis in plants, algae and cyanobacteria, which involves photosystem two, is oxygenic because it uses water as an electron source and produces O2 as a by-product.
92
What does it mean to be anoxygenic?
[Anoxygenic is] referring to any process or reaction that does not produce oxygen. Photosynthesis in purple sulfur bacteria in anoxygenic because it does not use water as an electron donor so no O2 is produced.
93
What are methanotrophs?
[A methanotroph is] a prokaryote that uses methane (CH4) as its primary electron donor and source of carbon.
94
What are methanogens?
[A methanogen is] a prokaryote that produces methane (CH4 as its primary by-product of cellular respiration.
95
What are cyanobacteria?
[Cyanobacteria are] a lineage if photosynthetic bacteria formerly known as blue-green algae. Likely the first life-forms to carry out oxygenic photosynthesis.
96
What is nitrogen fixation?
[Nitrogen fixation is] the incorporation of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), which can be used to make many organic compounds. Occurs in only a few lineages of prokaryotes.
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What is the nitrogen cycle?
[The global nitrogen cycle is] the movement of nitrogen among terrestrial ecosystems, the oceans, and the atmosphere.
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What are endosymbionts?
[An endosymbiont is] an organism that lives in a symbiotic relationship inside the body of its host.
99
What are fruiting bodies?
[A fruiting body is] a structure formed in some prokaryotes, fungi, and protists for spore dispersal; usually consists of a base, a stalk, and a mass of spores at the top.
100
What are protists?
[Protists are] any eukaryote that is not a land plant, animal, or fungus. Protists are a diverse paraphyletic group. Most are unicellular, but some are multicellular, or form aggregations called colonies.
101
What is malaria?
[Malaria is] a human disease caused by five species of the protist Plasmodium and passed to humans by mosquitoes.
102
What are primary producers?
[Primary producers are] any organism that creates its own food by photosynthesis or from reduced inorganic compounds and that is a stored food source for other species in its ecosystem.
103
What are plankton?
[Plankton are] drifting small or microscopic organisms that serve as a food source in aquatic environments (includes animals, plants, protists, archaea, and bacteria).
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What is a food chain?
[The food chain is] a relatively simple pathway of energy flow through a few species, each at a different trophic level, in an ecosystem. Might include, for example, a primary producer, a primary consumer, a secondary consumer, and a decomposer.
105
What is the carbon cycle?
[The global carbon cycle is] the movement of carbon among terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and the atmosphere.
106
What is carbon sink?
[A carbon sink is] a reservoir that stores carbon-containing compounds for an indefinite period of time.
107
What are sedimentary rocks?
[Sedimentary rock is] a type of rock formed by gradual accumulation of sediment, particularly sand and mud, as in riverbeds and on the ocean floor. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock.
108
What is a flagellum?
[Flagella are] a long, cellular projection that undulates (in eukaryotes) or rotates (prokaryotes) to move the cell through an aqueous environment.
109
What is picoplankton?
[Picoplankton are] plankton cells that are between 0.2 and 2.0 microns in diameter.
110
What is the endosymbiosis theory?
[The endosymbiosis theory is] the theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts evolved from prokaryotes that were engulfed by host cells and took up a symbiotic existence within those cells, a process termed primary endosymbiosis. In eukaryotes, chloroplasts may have originated by secondary endosymbiosis; that is, when a cell engulfed a chloroplast-containing protist and retained its chloroplast.
111
What is symbiosis?
[Symbiosis is] any close and prolonged physical relationship between two individuals of different species.
112
What is a shell?
[A shell is] a hard, protective outer surface.
113
What is multicellularity?
[Multicellularity is] the state of being composed of many cells that adhere to each other and do not all express the same genes, resulting in some cells having specialized functions.
114
What is phagocytosis?
[Phagocytosis is the] uptake by a cell of small particles or cells by invagination and pinching off of the plasma membrane to form small, membrane-bound vesicles; one type of endocytosis.
115
What are pseudopodia?
[A pseudopodium is] a temporary bulge-like extension of certain protist cells used in cell crawling and ingestion of food.
116
What are decomposers?
[A detritivore, or decomposer, is] an organism whose diet consists mainly of dead organic matter (detritus). Various bacteria, fungi, protists, and animals are detritivores.
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What is detritus?
[Detritus is] a layer of dead organic matter that accumulates at ground level or on seafloors and lake bottoms.
118
What is a parasite?
[A parasite is] an organism that lives on a host species (ectoparasite) or in a host species (endoparasite) and damages its host.
119
What is amoeboid motion?
[Amoeboid motion is] a sliding movement observed in some protists accomplished by the formation of cytoplasmic extensions of the cell called pseudopodia. One form of cell crawling.
120
What is a life cycle?
[A life cycle is] the sequence of developmental events and phases over the life span of an organism, from fertilization to offspring production.
121
What is the alternation of generations?
[An alternation of generations is] a life cycle involving alternation of a multicellular haploid stage (gametophyte) with a multicellular diploid stage (sporophyte). Occurs in most plants and some protists.
122
What is gametophyte?
[A gametophyte] in organisms undergoing alternation of generations, the multicellular haploid form that arises from a single haploid spore and produces gametes by mitosis and cell division.
123
What is a sporophyte?
[A sporophyte] in organisms undergoing alternation of generations, the multicellular diploid form that develops from mitotic divisions after fertilization produces a zygote.
124
What is a spore?
[A spore is] (1) in bacteria, a dormant form that generally is resistant to extreme conditions. (2) In eukaryotes, a single haploid cell produced by meiosis; it is distinct from a gamete, however, in being able to grow into a multicellular, haploid organism through mitotic division.
125
What is Plantae?
[Plantae is] the monophyletic group that includes red, green, and glaucophyte algae, as well as land plants.
126
What are fungi?
[Fungi are] a lineage of eukaryotes that typically have a filamentous body (mycelium) and obtain nutrients by absorption.
127
What are mutualists?
[Mutualism is] a species relationship between two organisms (mutualists) that benefits both.
128
What does it mean to be mycorrhizal?
[Mycorrhizal] describes a fungus that lives symbiotically with the roots of vascular plants.
129
What are mycorrhizae?
[Mycorrhiza are] a mutualistic association between certain fungi and the roots of most vascular plants, sometimes visible as nodules or nets in or around plants.
130
What are saprophytes?
[A saprophyte is] an organism that feeds primarily on dead plant material.
131
What is yeast?
[Yeast is] any fungus growing as a single-celled form. Also a specific lineage of Ascomycota.
132
What are mycelia?
[Mycelia are] a mass of underground filaments (hyphae) that form the body of a fungus. Also found in some protists and bacteria.
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What are hyphae?
[A hypha is] one of the long, branching strands of a fungal mycelium (the mesh like body of a fungus). Also found in some protists.
134
What are septa?
[Septum] are any wall-like structure. In fungi, septa divide the filaments (hyphae) of mycelia into cell-like structures.
135
What does it mean to be coenocytic?
[To be coenocytic means] containing many nuclei and a continuous cytoplasm through a filamentous body, without the body being divided into distinct cells. Some fungi are coenocytic.
136
What are zygosporangia?
[Zygosporangia are] the distinctive spore-producing structure in fungi that are members of the Zygomycota.
137
What are basidia?
[A basidium is a] specialized spore-producing cell at the ends of hyphae in “club fungi” (Basidiomycota).
138
What are asci?
[An ascus is a] specialized spore-producing cell found at the ends of hyphae in “sac fungi” (Ascomycota).
139
What are conidia?
[Conidia are] asexual spores produced by many fungi. Formed as a result of mitotic divisions; therefore, genetically identical to the parent fungus.
140
What are fungicides?
[A fungicide is] any substance that can kill fungi or slow their growth.
141
What is polytomy?
[A polytomy is] a node in a phylogenetic tree that depicts an ancestral branch dividing into three or more branches; usually indicates that insufficient data were available to resolve which taxa are more closely related.
142
What does it mean to be parasitic?
[Parasitism is] a relationship between two organisms that is beneficial to one organism (the parasite) and detrimental, but usually not fatal, to the other (the host). Parasites are usually small relative to the host and consume relatively small amounts of tissue or nutrients.
143
What is commensalism?
[Commensalism is] a species relationship in which one organism (the commensal) benefits with the other (the host) is unaffected.
144
What are ectomycorrhizal fungi?
[Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are] fungi whose hyphae form a dense network that covers their host plant’s roots but do not enter the root cells.
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What are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi?
[Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are] fungi from the Glomeromycota lineage whose hyphae enter the root cells of their host plants. Also called endomycorrhizal fungi.
146
What are endophytes?
[An endophyte is] a fungus that lives inside the tissues of a plant in a symbiotic relationship.
147
What is extracellular digestion?
[Extracellular digestion is] digestion that takes place outside of an organism, as occurs in many fungi that make and secrete digestive enzymes.
148
What are lichens?
[A lichen is] a mutualistic association of fungi, often in the Ascomycota lineage, and a photosynthetic alga or cyanobacterium.
149
What is plasmogamy?
[Plasmogamy is] the fusion of the cytoplasm of two individuals. Occurs in many fungi.
150
What does it mean to be heterokaryotic?
[Heterokaryotic is] describing a fungal mycelium containing haploid nuclei that are genetically distinct.
151
What does it mean to be dikaryotic?
[Dikaryotic is] describing a fungal mycelium or hypha made up of cells containing two genetically distinct haploid nuclei.
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What is karyogamy?
[Karyogamy is the fusion] of two haploid nuclei to form a diploid nucleus. Occurs in many fungi, and in animals and plants during fertilization of gametes
153
What is budding?
[Budding is] a form of asexual reproduction in which an outgrowth from the parent break free as an independent individual; occurs in yeasts and some invertebrates and plants.
154
What are animals?
[An animal is] a major lineage of Eukaryotes (Animalia) whose members typically have a complex, multicellular body; eat other organisms; and move under their own power at some point in their lives.
155
What is the extracellular matrix?
[The extracellular matrix (ECM) is] a complex fiber composite in which animal cells are embedded, consisting of proteins (e.g., collagen, proteoglycan, and laminin) and polysaccharides produced by cells.
156
What is a body plan?
[A body plan is] the basic architecture of an animal’s body, including the number and arrangement of limbs, body segments, and major tissue layers.
157
What does it mean to be benthic?
[Benthic means to be] living at the bottom of an aquatic environment.
158
What are choanocytes?
[A choanocyte is] a specialized, flagellated feeding cell found in sponges (the most ancient animal phylum).
159
What are colonies?
[A colony is] an assemblage of individuals. May refer to an assemblage of semi-independent cells or to a breeding population of multicellular organisms.
160
What is an epithelium?
[Epithelia is] an animal tissue consisting of sheetlike layers of tightly packed cells that line an organ, a gland, a duct, or a body surface. Also called epithelial tissue.
161
What are spicules?
[A spicule is] a stiff spike of silica or calcium carbonate that provides structural support in the body of many sponges.
162
What are tool-kit genes?
[Tool-kit genes are] a set of developmental genes that establishes the body plan of animals and plants; present at the origin of the multicellular lineages and elaborated upon over evolutionary time by a process of duplication and divergence. Includes Hox genes.
163
What are diploblasts?
[A diploblast is] an animal whose body develops from two basic embryonic cell layers or tissues: ectoderm and endoderm.
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What are triploblasts?
[A triploblast is] is an animal whose body develops from three basic embryonic cell layers or tissues: ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm.
165
What are germ layers?
[A germ layer is], in animals, one of the three embryonic tissue layers formed during gastrulation; gives rise to all other tissues and organs.
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What is an ectoderm?
[The ectoderm is] the outermost of the three basic cell layers (germ layer) in most animal embryos; gives rise to the outer covering and nervous system.
167
What is an endoderm?
[The endoderm is] the innermost of the three basic cell layers (germ layers) in most animal embryos; gives rise the digestive tract and organs that connect to it (liver, lungs, etc.).
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What is a mesoglea?
[Mesoglea is] a gelatinous material, containing scattered ectodermal cells, that is located between the ectoderm and endoderm of cnidarians (e.g., jellyfish, corals, and anemones).
169
What is a mesoderm?
[The mesoderm is] the middle of the three basic cell layers (germ layers) in most animal embryos; gives rise to muscles, bones, blood, and some internal organs (kidney, spleen, etc.).
170
What is radial symmetry?
[Radial symmetry is] an animal body pattern that has at least two planes of symmetry. Typically, the body is in the form of a cylinder or disk, and the body parts radiate from a central hub.
171
What is bilateral symmetry?
[Bilateral symmetry is] an animal body pattern in which one plane of symmetry divides the body into a left side and a right side. Typically, the body is long and narrow, with a distinct head end and tail end.
172
What are bilaterians?
[A bilaterian is] a member of a major lineage of animals (Bilateria) that are bilaterally symmetrical at some point in their life cycle, have three embryonic germ layers, and have a coelom (or evolved from ancestors that had a coelom. All protostomes and deuterostomes are bilaterians.
173
What is a nerve net?
[A nerve net is] a nervous system in which neurons are diffused instead of being clustered into large ganglia or tracts; found in cnidarians and ctenophores.
174
What are ganglia?
[A ganglion is] is a mass of neurons in a centralized nervous system.
175
What is the central nervous system?
[The central nervous system (CNS) is] an aggregation of large numbers of neurons into clusters called ganglia in bilaterian animals. In vertebrates, the CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord.
176
What is cephalization?
[Cephalization is] the formation in animals of a distinct anterior region (the head) where sensory organs and a mouth are clustered.
177
What is the brain?
[The brain is] a large mass of neuron, located in the head region of an animal, that is involved in information processing; may also be called the cerebral ganglion.
178
What is the coelom?
[A coelom is] an internal, usually fluid-filled body cavity that is completely or partially lined with mesoderm.
179
What are coelomates?
[A coelomate is] an animal that has a true coelom, completely lined with mesoderm.
180
What are acoelomates?
[An acoelomate is] a bilaterian animal that lacks an internal body cavity (coelom).
181
What are protostomes?
[Protostomes are] a major lineage of bilaterian animals that share a pattern of embryological development, including formation of the mouth earlier than the anus, and formation of the coelom by splitting of a block of mesoderm.
182
What are deuterostomes?
[Deuterostomes are] a major lineage of bilaterian animals that includes echinoderms and chordates; named for the embryonic development of the anus before the mouth (literally, “second mouth”).
183
What are lophotrochozoans?
[Lophotrochozoans are] a major lineage of protostomes (Lophotrochozoa) that grow by extending their skeletons rather than by molting. Many phyla have a specialized feeding structure (lophophore) and, or ciliated larvae (trochophore). Includes rotifers, flatworms, segmented worms, and mollusks.
184
What are ecdysozoans?
[Ecdysozoans are] a major lineage of protostomes (Ecdysozoa) that grow by shedding their external skeletons (molting) and expanding their bodies. Includes arthropods, nematodes, and other groups.
185
What is segmentation?
[Segmentation is] division of the body or a part of it into a series of similar structures; exemplified by the body segments of insects and worms and by the somites of vertebrates.
186
What are vertebrates?
[Vertebrates are] one of the three major chordate lineages (Vertebrata), comprising animals with a dorsal column of cartilaginous or bony structures (vertebrae) and a skull enclosing the brain. Includes fishs, amphibians, mammals, and reptiles (including birds).
187
What are invertebrates?
[Invertebrates are] a paraphyletic group composed of animals without a backbone; includes about ninety-five percent of all animal species.
188
What are detritivores?
[A detritivore is] an organism whose diet consists mainly of dead organic matter (detritus). Various bacteria, fungi, protists, and animals are detritivores.
189
What are herbivores?
[A herbivore is] an animal that eats primarily plants and rarely or never eats meat.
190
What are carnivores?
[A carnivore is] an animal whose diet consists predominantly of meat, or other animals. Most members of the mammalian taxon Carnivora are carnivores. Some plants are carnivorous, trapping and killing small animals and then absorbing nutrients from the prey’s body.
191
What are omnivores?
[An omnivore is] an animal whose diet regularly includes a variety of organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and, or bacteria.
192
What are predators?
[A predator is] any organism that kills another organism for food.
193
What are parasites?
[A parasite is] an organism that lives on a host species (ectoparasite) or in a host species (endoparasite) and that damages the host.
194
What are endoparasites?
[An endoparasite is] a parasite that lives inside the host’s body.
195
What are ectoparasites?
[An ectoparasite is] a parasite that lives on the outer surface of the host’s body.
196
What are suspension feeders?
[A suspension, or filter, feeder is] an animal that obtains food by filtering small particles or small organisms out of water.
197
What are deposit feeders?
[A deposit feeder is] an animal that eats its way through a food-containing substrate.
198
What are fluid feeders?
[A fluid feeder is] an animal that feeds by sucking or mopping up liquids such as nectar, plant sap, blood.
199
What are mass feeders?
[A mass feeder is] an animal that ingests chunks of food.
200
What are hydrostatic skeletons?
[A hydrostatic skeleton is] a system of body support involving a body wall in tension surrounding a fluid or soft tissue under compression.
201
What are endoskeletons?
[Endoskeletons are] bony and, or cartilaginous structures within the body that provide support. Examples are the spicules of sponges, the plates of echinoderms, and the bony skeleton of vertebrates.
202
What are exoskeletons?
[An exoskeleton is] a hard covering secreted on the outside of the body used for body, support, protection, and muscle attachment. Examples are the shells of mollusks and the outer covering (cuticles) of arthropods.
203
What is parthenogenesis?
[Parthenogenesis is] a form of asexual reproduction in which offspring develop from unfertilized eggs.
204
What does it mean to be viviparous?
[Viviparous means], in animals, producing live young (instead of eggs) that develop within and are nourished by the body of the mother before birth, typically via a placenta.
205
What does it mean to be oviparous?
[Oviparous means], in animals, depositing fertilizing eggs outside the body, where they develop and hatch.
206
What does it mean to be ovoviviparous?
[Ovoviviparous means], in animals, producing eggs that are retained outside the body (nourished by the yolk) until they are ready to hatch.
207
What is metamorphosis?
[Metamorphosis is the] transition from one developmental stage to another, such as from the larval to the adult form of an animal.
208
What are larvae?
[A larva is] an immature stage of an animal species in which the immature and adult stages have different body forms.
209
What are juveniles?
[A juvenile is] an individual that has adult-like morphology but is not sexually mature.
210
What are adults?
[An adult is] a sexually mature individual.
211
What is cnidocyte?
[A cnidocyte is] a specialized stinging cell found in cnidarians (e.g., jellyfish, corals, and anemones) and used in capturing prey.
212
What is a polyp?
[A polyp is] the immotile (sessile) stage in the life cycle of some cnidarians (e.g., sea anemones).
213
What is a medusa?
[A medusa is] the free-floating stage in the life cycle of some cnidarians (e.g., jellyfish).
214
What is adaptation?
[Adaptation is] any heritable trait that increases the fitness of an individual with that trait, compared with individuals without that trait, in a particular environment.
215
What are Platyhelminthes?
[Platyhelminthes, or flatworms, are] members of the phylum Platyhelminthes. Distinguished by a broad, flat, unsegmented body that lacks a coelom. Flatworms belong to the lophotrochozoan branch of the protostomes.
216
What is a lophophore?
[A lophophore is] a specialized feeding structure found in some lophotrochozoans and used in suspension (filter) feeding.
217
What is trochophore?
[A trochophore is] a larva with a ring of cilia arounds its middle that is found in some lophotrochozoans.
218
What are worms?
[A worm is] an animal with a long, thin, tubelike body lacking limbs.
219
What are annelids?
[Annelids are] members of the phylum Annelida (segmented worms). Distinguished by a segmented body and a coelom that functions as a hydrostatic skeleton. Annelids belong to the lophotrochozoan branch of the protostomes.
220
What are chaetae?
[Chaetae are] bristle like extensions found in some annelids.
221
What are parapodia?
[Parapodia are] appendages found in some annelids from which bristles-like structures (chaetae) extend.
222
What is a foot?
[A foot is] one of the three main parts of the mollusk body plan; a muscular appendage, used for movements such as crawling and, or burrowing into sediment.
223
What is a visceral mass?
[Visceral mass is] one of the three main parts of the mollusk body; contains most of the internal organs and external gill.
224
What is a mantle?
[A mantle is] one of the three main parts of the mollusk body; the thick outer tissue that protects the visceral mass and may secrete a calcium carbonate shell.
225
What are chitons?
[Chitons are] a lineage of marine mollusks that have a protective shell formed of eight calcium carbonate plates.
226
What are bivalves?
[Bivalves are] a lineage of mollusks, including clams and mussels, that have shells made of two parts, or valves.
227
What are gastropods?
[Gastropods are] a lineage of mollusks distinguished by a large, muscular foot and a unique feeding structure, the radula. Includes slugs and snails.
228
What are cephalopods?
[Cephalopods are] a lineage of mollusks including squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Distinguished by large brains, excellent vision, tentacles, and (in living species) a reduced or absent shell.
229
What are tentacles?
[A tentacle is] a long, thin, muscular appendage, typically used for sensing and feeding. Occurs in different forms in diverse animals, such as cephalopod mollusks and sea anemones.
230
What is a radula?
[A radula is] a rasping feeding appendage in mollusks such as gastropods (snails, slugs).
231
What is a gill?
[Gills are] any organ in aquatic animals that exchanges gases and other dissolved substances between the blood or hemolymph and the surrounding water. Typically, a filamentous outgrowth of a body surface.
232
What is a siphon?
[A siphon is] a tubelike appendage of many mollusks, often used for feeding or propulsion.
233
What is molting?
[Molting is] a method of body growth, used by ecdysozoans, that involves the shedding of an external protective cuticle (exoskeleton in arthropods), expansions of the soft body, and growth of a new external cuticle.
234
What is cuticle?
[A cuticle is] a protective coating secreted by the outermost layer of cells of an animal or a plant; often functions to reduce evaporative water loss.
235
What is an exoskeleton?
[An exoskeleton is] a hard covering secreted on the outside of the body, used for body support, protection, and muscle attachment. Examples are the shell of mollusks and the outer covering (cuticle) of arthropods.
236
What are nematodes?
[Nematodes, or roundworms are] members of the phylum Nematoda. Distinguished by an unsegmented body with a pseudocoelom and no appendages. Roundworms belong to the ecdysozoan branch of protostomes.
237
What are arthropods?
[Arthropods are] are members of the phylum Arthopoda. Distinguished by a segmented body; a hard, jointed exoskeleton; paired, jointed appendages; and an extensive body cavity called a hemocoel. Arthropods belong to the ecdysozoan branch of the protostomes.
238
What are tagmata?
[Tagmata are] prominent body regions in arthropods, such as the head, thorax, and abdomen in insects.
239
What is a head?
[A head is] the anteriormost region of many bilateral animals, usually containing specialized sensory structures and the brain.
240
What is a thorax?
[A thorax is] a region of the body; in arthropods, one of the three prominent body regions (tagmata), located between the head and abdomen; in vertebrates, including humans, the chest.
241
What is an abdomen?
[An abdomen is] a region of the body; in arthropods, one of the three prominent body regions (tagmata), located posterior to the thorax.
242
What is a cephalothorax?
[The cephalothorax is] in some arthropods, the tagma that is formed by the fusion of the head and thorax; anterior to the abdomen.
243
What are myriapods?
[Myriapods are] a lineage of arthropods with long segmented trunks, each segment bearing one or two pairs of legs.
244
What are simple eyes?
[A simple eye is] an eye with only one light-collecting apparatus (e.g., one lens), as in vertebrates and cephalopods.
245
What are insects?
[Insects are] a mostly terrestrial lineage of arthropods distinguished by three tagmata (head, thorax, abdomen), a single pair of antennae, and unbranched appendages.
246
What are antennae?
[An antenna] a long appendage of the head that is used to touch or smell.
247
What is a compound eye?
[A compound eye is] an eye formed of many independent lenses, each associated with a light-sensing columnar structure (ommatidium); occurs in arthropods.
248
What are crustaceans?
[Crustaceans are] a lineage of arthropods that includes shrimp, lobsters, and crabs. Many have a carapace (a platelike portion of the exoskeleton covering the cephalothorax) and mandibles for biting or chewing.
249
What is a carapace?
[A carapace is], in crustaceans, a large platelike section of the exoskeleton that covers and protects the cephalothorax.
250
What are chelicerates?
[Chelicerates are] a lineage of mostly terrestrial arthropods that includes spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, daddy longlegs, and horseshoe crabs; named for their clawlike appendages called chelicerae.
251
What are chelicerae?
[Chelicerae are] a pair clawlike appendages found near the mouth of certain arthropods called chelicerates (spiders, mites, relatives).
252
What are pedipalps?
[Pedipalps are] a pair of appendages found next to the clawlike chelicerae of certain arthropods called chelicerates (spider, mites, relatives); used to manipulate food, transfer sperms, or function.
253
What is hemimetabolous metamorphosis?
[Hemimetabolous metamorphosis is] a type of metamorphosis in which the animal increases in size from one stage to the next but does not dramatically change its body room. Also called incomplete metamorphosis.
254
What is holometabolous metamorphosis?
Holometabolous metamorphosis is] a type of metamorphosis in which the animal completely changes its form; includes a distinct larval stage. Also called a complete metamorphosis.
255
What is a pupa?
[A pupa is], in insects undergoing complete (holometabolous) metamorphosis, the life stage during which the juvenile form metamorphosis into the adult man.
256
What are echinoderms?
[Echinoderms are] a major lineage of deuterostomes (Echinodermata) distinguished by adult bodies with five-sided radial symmetry, a water vascular system, and tube feet. Includes sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea stars.
257
What is the water vascular system?
[A water vascular system is], in echinoderms, a system of fluid-filled tubes and chambers that function as a hydrostatic skeleton.
258
What are tube feet?
[Tube feet are] one of the many small, mobile, fluid-filled extensions of the water vascular system of echinoderms; the part extending outside the body is called a podium, while the bulb within the body is the ampulla. Used in locomotion, feeding and respiration.
259
What are keystone species?
[A keystone species is] a species that has an exceptionally great impact on the other species in its ecosystem relative to its abundance.
260
What are chordates?
[A chordate is] any member of the phylum Chordata. Chordates are deuterostomes distinguished by four morphological features present at some stage in their life cycles: a dorsal hollow nerve cord, pharyngeal gill slits, a notochord, and a post-anal tail. Includes vertebrates, cephalochordate, and urochordata.
261
What are pharyngeal slits?
[Pharyngeal slits, or pouches, are] a set of parallel openings from the throat to the outside that function in feeding and, or gas exchange, or in vertebrae embryos, a set of throat pouches that are homologous to slits in other chordates. A diagnostic trait of chordates.
262
What is a dorsal hollow nerve cord?
[The dorsal hollow nerve cord is] a bundle of nerves running the length of the body. A defining feature of chordates.
263
What is a notochord?
[The notochord is] a supportive, flexible rod that occurs in the back of a chordate embryo, ventral to the developing spinal chord. Replaced by the vertebrae in most adult vertebrates. A defining feature of chordates.
264
What are cephalochordates?
[Cephalochordates are] one of the three major chordate lineages (Cephalochordata), comprising small, mobile organisms that live in marine sands and suspension feed; also called lancelets or amphioxus.
265
What are urochordates?
[Urochordates are] one of three major chordate lineages (Urochordata), comprising sessile or floating, filter-feeding animals that have a polysaccharide covering (tunic) and two siphons through which water enters and exits; includes the ascidians, thalaceans, and the larvaceans.
266
What are vertebrae?
[Vertebrae are] the cartilaginous or bony elements that form the backbones of vertebrate animals.
267
What is the cranium?
[A cranium is] a bony, cartilaginous, or fibrous case that encloses and protects the brain of vertebrates. Forms part of the skull.
268
What is cartilage?
[Cartilage is] a type of vertebrate connective tissue that consists of relatively few cells scattered in a stiff matrix of polysaccharides and protein fibers. Provides structural support.
269
What is bone?
[A bone is] a type of vertebrate connective tissue consisting of living cells and blood vessels within a hard extracellular matrix composed of calcium phosphate (CaPO4) and small amounts of calcium carbonate (CaPO3) and protein fibers.
270
What is the forebrain?
[The forebrain is] one of the three main regions of the vertebrate brain; includes the cerebrum, thalamus, and the hypothalamus.
271
What is the midbrain?
[The midbrain is] one of the three main regions of the vertebrate brain; includes sensory integrating and relay centers.
272
What is the hindbrain?
[The hindbrain is] one of the three main regions of the vertebrate brain, responsible for balance and sometimes hearing; includes the cerebellum and the medulla oblongata.
273
What are ray-finned fish?
[Ray-finned fish are] members of the Actinopterygii, a diverse group of fishes with fins supported by bony rods arranged in a ray pattern.
274
What is a grade?
[A grade is], in taxonomy, a sequence of lineages that share some, but not all, of the descendants of a common ancestor. Also called a paraphyletic group.
275
What are gill arches?
[A gill arch is], in aquatic vertebrates, a curved region of tissue between the gills. Gills are suspended from the gill arches.
276
What is a pharyngeal jaw?
[A pharyngeal jaw is] a secondary jaw in the back of the throat; found in some fishes, it aids in food processing. Derived from modified gill arches.
277
What is a swim bladder?
[A swim bladder is] a gas-filled organ of many ray-finned fishes; regulates buoyancy.
278
What are lobe-finned fishes?
[Lobe-finned fish are] fishes with fins supported by bony elements that extend the length of the fin.
279
What are tetrapods?
[A tetrapod is] any member of the lineage that includes all vertebrates with two pairs of limbs (amphibians, mammals, and reptiles, and including birds).
280
What are amphibians?
[Amphibians are] a lineage of vertebrates, many of which breathe through their skin and feed on land but lay their eggs in water; includes frogs, salamanders, and caecilians.
281
What are amniotes?
[Amniotes are] a major lineage of vertebrates (Amniota) that reproduce with amniotic eggs. Includes all reptiles (including birds) and mammals, all tetrapods except amphibians.
282
What is an amniotic egg?
[An amniotic egg is] an egg that has a watertight shell or case enclosing a membrane-bound water supply (the amnion and the chorion), food supply (yolk sac), and waste sac (allantois).
283
What are mammals?
[Mammals are] one of the two lineages of amniotes (vertebrates that produce amniotic eggs) distinguished by hair (or fur) and mammary glands. Includes the monotremes (platypus and echidnas), marsupials, and eutherians (placental mammals).
284
What are mammary glands?
[Mammary glands are] are specialized exocrine glands that produce and secrete milk for nursing offspring. A diagnostic feature of mammals.
285
What is lactation?
[Lactation is the] production of milk by the mammary glands of mammals, to feed offspring.
286
What are endotherms?
[An endotherm is] an animal that gains most of its body heat from internal metabolic processes.
287
What are monotremes?
[Monotremes are] a lineage of mammals (Monotremata) that lay eggs and the nourish the young with milk. Includes just five living species: the platypus and four species of echidna, all with leathery beaks or bills.
288
What are marsupials?
[Marsupials are] a lineage of mammals (Marsupiala) that nourish their young in an abdominal pouch after a very short period of development in the urethra.
289
What are eutherians?
[Eutherians are] a lineage of mammals (Eutheria) whose young develop in the uterus and are not housed in an abdominal pouch. Also called placental mammals.
290
What is the placenta?
[The placenta is] a structure that forms in the pregnant uterus from maternal and embryonic tissues. Delivers oxygen to the embryo or fetus, exchanges nutrients and wastes between the mother and the embryo or fetus to the uterine wall and produces some hormones. Occurs in most mammals in a few other vertebrates.
291
What is gestation?
[Gestation], in animals species with live birth (viviparous), the period of development inside the mother, from implantation of the embryo to birth.
292
What are reptiles?
[Reptiles are] one of the two lineages of amniotes (vertebrates that produce amniotic eggs) distinguished by adaptations for life and reproduction on land. Living reptiles include turtles, snakes and lizards, crocodiles and alligators, and birds. Except for birds, all are ectotherms.
293
What are ectotherms?
[An ectotherm is] an animal that gains most of its body heat from external sources as opposed to metabolic processes.
294
What are feathers?
[A feather is] a specialized skin outgrowth, composed of keratin, present in all birds as well as in some non-avian dinosaurs. Used for flight, insulation, display, and other purposes.
295
What is parental care?
[Parental care is] any action by which an animal expends energy or assumes risks to benefit its offspring (e.g., building a nest, feeding and defending young).
296
What are primates?
[Primates are] a lineage of mammals that includes prosimians (lemurs, lorises, etc.), monkeys, and great apes (including humans).
297
What are prosimians?
[Prosimians] are] one of the two major lineages of primates, a paraphyletic group including lemurs, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers.
298
What are anthropoids?
[Anthropoids are] one of two major lineages of primates, including humans and the other great apes, gibbons, and all monkeys.
299
What are hominids?
[Hominids are] members of the family Hominidae; today’s representatives are humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. Distinguished by large body size, no tail, and an exceptionally large brain. Also called great apes.
300
What does it mean to be bipedal?
[Bipedal means] walking primarily on two legs; characteristic of hominins.
301
What are humans?
[A human is] any member of the genus Homo, which includes modern humans (Homo sapiens) and several extinct species.
302
Who were the Cro-Magnons?
[Cro-Magnons are] a prehistoric European population of modern humans (Homo sapiens) known from fossils, paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts.
303
Who were the Neanderthal?
[Neanderthal are] a recently extinct European species of hominin, Hominin neanderthalensis, closely related to but distinct from modern humans.
304
What is the out-of-Africa hypothesis?
[The out-of-Africa hypothesis is] the hypothesis that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa and spread to other continents, replacing other Homo species without interbreeding with them.
305
What is behavioral ecology?
[Behavior ecology is] a discipline that focuses on behavioral adaptations that have evolved in response to ecological selection pressures; a subset of organismal ecology, which also includes morphological and physiological adaptations.
306
What is proximate causation?
[Proximate causation is], in biology, the immediate, mechanistic cause of a phenomenon (how it happens), as opposed to why it evolved. Also called proximate explanation.
307
What is ultimate causation?
[Ultimate causation is], in biology, the reason a trait or phenomenon is thought to have evolved; the adaptive advantage of that trait. Also called the ultimate explanation.
308
What are territories?
[A territory is] an area that is actively defended by an animal and that provides exclusive or semi-exclusive use of its resources by the owner.
309
What are fixed action patterns?
[A fixed action pattern is a] highly stereotyped behavior pattern that occurs in a certain invariant way in certain species.
310
What is learning?
[Learning is] an enduring change in an individual’s behavior that results from a specific experience.
311
What is innate behavior?
[Innate behavior is] behavior that is inherited genetically, does not have to be learned, and is typical of a species.
312
What are fitness trade-offs?
[A trade-off is], in evolutionary biology, an inescapable compromise between two traits that cannot be optimized simultaneously. Also called a fitness trade-off.
313
What is cost-benefit analysis?
[Cost-benefit analysis is] decisions or analyses that weigh the fitness costs and benefits of a particular action.
314
What is foraging?
[Foraging is] searching for food.
315
What is optimal foraging?
[Optimal foraging is] the concept that animals forage in a way that maximizes the amount of usable energy they take in, given the costs of finding and ingesting their food and the risk of being eaten while they’re at it.
316
What is a signal?
[A signal is], in behavioral ecology, any information containing behavior or characteristic that has been shaped by natural selection.
317
What is sexual selection?
[Sexual selection is a] type of natural selection that favors individuals with traits that increase their ability to obtain mates or choose good mates.
318
What is intersexual selection?
[Intersexual selection is] a type of sexual selection in which an individual of one sex chooses a particular individual of the other sex for mating (usually occurs through female choice).
319
What is intrasexual selection?
[Intrasexual selection is] a type of sexual selection driven by competition among members of one sex (usually male-male) for an opportunity to mate
320
What is a migration?
[Migration is], (1) in ecology, a seasonal long-distance movement of large numbers of organisms from one geographic location or habitat to another. (2) In population genetics, movement of individuals from one population to another.
321
What is piloting?
[Piloting is] a type of navigation in which animals use familiar landmarks to find their way.
322
What is compass orientation?
[Compass orientation is] a type of navigation in which movement occurs in a specific direction.
323
What is true navigation?
[True navigation is] the type of navigation by which an animal can reach a specific point on Earth’s surface. Also called map orientation.
324
What is the circadian clock?
[The circadian clock is] an internal mechanism found in most organisms that regulates many body processes (sleep-wake cycles, hormonal patterns, etc.) in a roughly twenty-four cycle.
325
What is communication?
[Communication], in ecology, any process in which a signal from one individual modifies the behavior of another individual.
326
What is altruism?
[Altruism is] any behavior that has a fitness cost to the individual (lowered survival and, or reproduction) and a fitness benefit to the recipient.
327
What is the coefficient of relatedness?
[The coefficient of relatedness (r) is] a measure of how closely two individuals are related. Calculated as the probability of that allele in two individuals is inherited from the same ancestor.
328
What is Hamilton’s Rule?
[Hamilton’s rule is] the proposition that an allele for altruistic behavior will be favored by natural selection only if Br > C, where B = the fitness benefit to the recipient, C = the fitness cost to the actor, and r = the coefficient of relatedness between recipient and actor.
329
What is inclusive fitness?
[Inclusive fitness is] the combination of (1) direct production of offspring (direct fitness) and (2) extra production of offspring by relatives in response to help provided by the individual in question (indirect fitness).
330
What is kin selection?
[Kin selection is] a form of natural selection that favors traits that increase survival or reproduction of an individual’s kin at the expense of the individual.
331
What is eusociality?
[Eusociality is] a complex social structure in which workers sacrifice most or all of their direct reproduction to help rear the queen’s offspring. Common in insects such as ants, bees, wasps, and termites.
332
What is reciprocal altruism?
[Reciprocal altruism is] altruistic behavior that us exchanged between a pair of individuals at different times (i.e., sometimes individual A helps individual B, and sometimes B helps A).
