Important Terms Flashcards
(44 cards)
Genome
An organism’s full set of genes and non-coding portions of DNA
Molecular Evolution
Branch of biology dealing with the relationships between structure of genes and proteins and functions of organisms
Sequence Homology
Similarity due to common ancestry
Hox Genes
Transcription factors that are expressed in different combinations along the length of an embryo, determining cell fates within each segment
Homeobox
Common 180 base pair sequence in Hox genes and many other transcription factor genes
Homeodomain
60 amino acid sequence coded by the homeobox
Parallel Phenotypic Evolution
Existence of highly conserved developmental gene that make it likely that similar traits evolve repeatedly
Pseudogene
Extra, non-functional copies of genes
“Junk” DNA
Non-coding DNA
Phylogeny
Evolutionary history of relationships among organisms or their genes
Clade
Any taxon that consists of all descendents of a common ancestor
Root
Common ancestor
Synapomorphies
Organisms with shared derived characteristics
Convergent Evolution
Similar traits due to similar selection pressures
Ingroup
Organisms that make up the study group in a cladistic analysis
Outgroup
Organisms that are related to the ingroup and have ancestral features for comparison
Paleontology
Scientific study of prehistoric life
Half-Life
Amount of time in years it takes for half of a radioisotope sample to decay
Continental Drift
Continents drifting away from each other over time
Pangaea
All land masses together about 250 million years ago
Biogeography
Distribution of organisms throughout the planet
Binomial Nomenclature
Carlos Linneaus method of naming species. First name is Genus with a capitalized noun and second name is species name with lowercase adjective
Three Domains
- Bacteria
- Archea
- Eukarya
Coccus
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