sience Flashcards
(17 cards)
something produced to adjust to different conditions or uses, or to meet different situations
Adaptation
a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. The species is the principal natural taxonomic unit, ranking below a genus and denoted by a Latin binomial
Species
Evolution
descent with modification from preexisting species
the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.
Fossil
fossil record
history of life as documented by fossils,
a distinguishing quality or characteristic, typically one belonging to a person.
Trait
the process of modifying the characteristics of living things especially to enhance one or more desirable traits
Selective Breeding
the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.
Natural Selection
the average interval between the birth of an individual and the birth of its offspring
Generation time
the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.
Speciation
we determine which things are older or younger based on their relationships
Relative Dating
measure the physical properties of an object itself and use these measurements to calculate its age
Absolute Dating
the “calendar” for events in Earth history
Geologic Time Scale
having no living members; no longer in existence.
Extinct
a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth’s subterranean movements.
Plate Tectonics
the chief bishop or archbishop of a province.
primate
a primate of a family ( Hominid ) that includes humans and their fossil ancestors and also (in recent systems) at least some of the great apes.
Hominid
