Get these flashcards, study & pass exams. For free! Even on iPhone/Android!

a characteristic that helps an organism survive in its enviorment; caused by a mutation that, by chance, matches up with the enviorment.
ex: the apposable thumb is an important adaptation in human evolution.

the number and variety of living things.
ex: scientiscts observe more biodiversity in the rainforests than the jungle.

a process by which species change over long periods of time often leading to a new species all together
ex: the ancestor of the modern day horse was a much smaller animal, but through the process of evolution, organisms with longer legs and larger bodies developed over thousands of years...

solidified remains or imprints of a once living organism

parts of an organism with similar underlying structures
ex: the arm of a human and the wing of a bird have the sam number and kinds of bones, even though they have different uses

a change in the DNA of an organism leading to a change in a genetic trait

the process by which organisms with favorable adaptations survive and reproduce at a higher rate than organisms without the favorable adaptation
ex: zebras with longer legs can  run away from a lion faster and therefore live to reproduce.

the intentional breeding of plants or animals for a certain desired trait
ex: farmers breed cows that produce a lot of milk and not low producers

the process by which two groups of the same type of organism become so different they can no longer interbreed
ex: when the finche son the Galapagos Islands became isolated from each other, speciation occured and several new species of finches evolved

a group of organisms that produce offspring that can reproduce sucessfuly (fertile offspring)

organisms best suited to thier enviorment will survive and reproduce; others will die off.

slight differences among the individuals of a species
ex: although humans share many traits in common, there is some variation from one person to the next giving us different apperences and abilities

remnant of a once useful structure
ex: hind limb bones in now legless whales