Unit 3-2 Key Terms

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Empirical Evidence

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A source of knowledge obtained by observation or experimentation.

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Anatomical Homology

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Similarities in structures among species that exist because of descent from a common ancestor.

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Fossil Records

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The fossils and their locations in the sedimentary layers of Earth's crust, which provide information about things that lived in the distant past.

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Cladogram

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A branching diagram representing a hypothesis about the evolutionary descent of groups of organisms from a common ancestor.

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Structural Homology

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Skeletal structure that is the same or different across different species.

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Genetic Variation

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Differences in DNA sequences among individuals within a population.

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Molecular Homologies

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Similarities in the molecular structure of proteins or genes among different species, indicating common ancestry.

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Embryological Homology

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Similarities in the embryonic development of different species, suggesting a common ancestor.

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Pangaea

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The supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, which eventually split into the continents we know today.

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Natural Selection

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The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.