Evolution

• Linnaean classification system: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• Evolution: An inheritable change from one generation to the next in characteristics of individuals in a population
• Natural selection: a functional association between individual traits and average reproductive success
• • Natural selection is when organisms with certain characteristics tend to produce more offspring than other organisms in the same population
  • If natural selection acts on a characteristic that is inherited, then evolution may result
• • Homologous structures: Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry
  • Vestigial structures: A feature of an organism that is a historic remnant of a structure that served a function in the organism’s ancestors