Evolution

Front

What is a vestigial structure?

Back

A vestigial structure is a body part that has lost its original function through evolution. An example is the tailbone in humans.

Front

What does it mean if two organisms have very similar DNA sequences?

Back

It indicates that the organisms are closely related and likely share a common ancestor.

Front

What is a gene pool?

Back

A gene pool is the total collection of genes and their variants in a population.

Front

What is common ancestry?

Back

Common ancestry refers to the concept that different species share a common ancestor, and those with more recent common ancestors are more closely related.

Front

What is natural selection?

Back

Natural selection is the process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Front

What is evolution?

Back

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

Front

What is adaptation in the context of evolution?

Back

Adaptation is a trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

Front

What is genetic drift?

Back

Genetic drift is a mechanism of evolution that refers to random changes in the frequency of alleles in a population.

Front

What is the fossil record?

Back

The fossil record is the history of life on Earth as documented by fossils, which provide evidence of past organisms and their evolution.

Front

What is the significance of homologous structures?

Back

Homologous structures are body parts in different species that share a common ancestry, indicating evolutionary relationships.