Natural Selection Flashcards
(18 cards)
Adaptation
A characteristic that improves an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Species
A group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.
Evolution
The process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generations such that a new species sometimes arise.
Fossil
The remains or physical evidence of an organism preserved by geological processes.
Fossil record
A historical sequence of life indicated by fossils found in layers of the Earth’s crust.
Trait
It is a genetically determined characteristics.
Selective Breeding
The human practice of breeding animals or plants that have certain desired characteristics
Natural selection
The processes in which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce.
Generation time
The period between the birth of one generation and the birth of the next generation.
Speciation
Speciation is how a new kind of plant or animal species is created.
Relative Dating
In relative dating, we determine which things are older or younger based on their relationships.
Absolute Dating
Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology.
Geologic Time Scale
The geologic time scale divides up the history of the earth based on life-forms that have existed during specific times since the creation of the planet.
Extinct
no longer in existence; lost or especially having died out leaving no living representatives.
Plate Tectonics
a theory in geology: the lithosphere of the earth is divided into a small number of moving plates whose movements cause seismic activity (as earthquakes)
Primate
A primate is any mammal of the group that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans.
Hominid
the group consisting of all modern and extinct Great Apes (that is, modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans plus all their immediate ancestors).
Homo sapiens
Humans or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus Homo. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligence.
