Evolution and Natural Selection

Front

What is natural selection?

Back

The process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring, passing on their advantageous traits to future generations.

Front

What type of structure do unrelated organisms with similar functions (like fins for swimming) have?

Back

Analagous structures.

Front

Which two species would have the fewest differences in their DNA?

Back

Snakes and iguanian lizards.

Front

What type of selection is characterized by a shift in the population towards one extreme phenotype?

Back

Directional Selection.

Front

Microevolution is defined as a change in _________ _______ within a population over time.

Back

Allele frequency.

Front

What is the definition of evolution?

Back

The change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

Front

What are homologous structures?

Back

Structures in different species that are similar due to shared ancestry.

Front

What is genetic drift?

Back

A mechanism of evolution that refers to random changes in allele frequencies in a population.

Front

What is the significance of the fossil record in understanding evolution?

Back

It provides evidence of the historical changes in species and their relationships over time.

Front

What is speciation?

Back

The process by which new and distinct species evolve from existing species.