Natural selection Flashcards
(18 cards)
a characteristic that improves an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment
Adaption
a group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring
Species
the process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generations such that new species sometimes arise
Evolution
the remains or physical evidence of an organism preserved by geological process
Fossil
a historical sequence of life indicated by fossils found in layers of Earth’s crust
Fossil Record
a genetically determined characteristic
Trait
the human practice of breeding animals or plants that have certain desired characteristics
Selective Breeding
the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well-adapted individuals do; a theory to explain the mechanism of evolution
Natural Selection
the period between the birth of one generation and the birth of the next generation
Generation time
the formation of new species as a result of evolution
Speciation
any method of determining whether an event or object is older or younger than other events or objects
Relative Dating
any method of measuring the age of an object or event in years
Absolute Dating
the standard method used to divide the Earth’s long natural history into manageable parts
Geologic Time Scale
describes a species that has died out completely
Extinct
the theory that explains how large pieces of Earth’s outermost layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape
Plate Tectonics
a type of mammal characterized by opposable thumbs and binocular vision
Primate
a type of primate characterized by bipedalism, relatively long lower limbs, and lack of tail
Hominid
the species of hominids that includes modern humans and their closest ancestors and that first appeared about 100,000 to 160,000 yeas ago
Homo sapiens
