evolution

• Charles Darwin


  The man who came up with the concept of natural selection
• Adaptation


  A phenotype that helps an organism survive an environmental change
• Fitness


  An organism's ability to survive AND reproduce
• Natural Selection


  The process by which random evolutionary changes are selected for by nature in a consistent, orderly, non-random way
• Common Descent


  The theory that all life on Earth comes from one common ancestor
• Descent with modification


  The observable fact that every generation varies slightly from the previous
• Homologous structure


  Show individual variations on a common anatomical theme, seen in organisms that are closely related
• Analogous structure


  Have very different anatomies but similar functions, seen in organisms that are not necessarily closely related, but live in similar environments and have similar adaptations
• Vestigial structure


  Anatomical remnants that were important in the organism's ancestors, but are no longer used in the same way (are disappearing or completely gone)
• Allele


  A version of a gene
• Allele frequency


  How common that allele is within a population
• Gene pool


  The complete total of alleles within a population
• Artificial selection


  When humans are responsible for selecting which traits are desirable and purposefully breeding those individuals to create new generations
• Selective pressure/force


  The factor that is determining the success or lack of success for a particular trait
• Mutation


  A random change in DNA that can lead to a change in a phenotype
• Transitional link/form


  Fossils that show the progression of evolution from one ancestor to a modern day species
• Evidence for evolution


  • Fossils
  • Comparative anatomy
  • Embryology
  • DNA