Evolution and Adaptation Flashcards
Grade 7 · Science · Flashcards
Key vocabulary for understanding how species change over time and how organisms become suited to their environments.
Flashcards
- Evolution
- The gradual change in the inherited traits of a population over many generations.
- Natural selection
- The mechanism of evolution; organisms with favorable inherited traits survive and reproduce more, passing traits to offspring.
- Adaptation
- An inherited trait that improves an organism's fitness (survival and reproduction) in its environment.
- Variation
- Differences in traits among individuals in a population; variation is the raw material for natural selection.
- Heritable
- Capable of being passed from parent to offspring through genes; only heritable traits can be acted on by natural selection.
- Fossil
- Preserved remains, impressions, or traces of organisms from the past; primary evidence for evolution.
- Homologous structures
- Body structures in different species that have a similar underlying anatomy, suggesting descent from a common ancestor (e.g., human arm and whale flipper).
- Vestigial structure
- A body part that has lost most or all of its original function through evolution; evidence of common ancestry.
- Common ancestor
- A past species from which two or more modern species have both descended.
- Speciation
- The formation of a new species, often after a population becomes geographically isolated and evolves separately.
- Fitness
- In evolutionary biology, an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.
- Camouflage
- A structural adaptation in which coloring, pattern, or shape helps an organism blend into its surroundings.
- Mimicry
- An adaptation where one species resembles another species (often dangerous or unpalatable) to gain a survival advantage.
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