Quiz Evolution vocabulary

An organism’s early pre-birth stage of development.

• prezygotic isolation

• embryo

• postzygotic isolation

• biogeography

new features that had not appeared in common ancestors

• derived traits

• ancestral traits

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

a form of natural selection that splits a population into two groups and the individuals with average traits are removed, but individuals with the extreme traits have a higher fitness

• directional selection

• disruptive selection

• stabilizing selection

• sexual selection

occurs when a population declines to a very low number and then rebounds

• allopatric speciation

• sympatric speciation

• bottleneck

• adaptive radiation

the theory that evolution occurs in small, gradual steps

• gradualism

• punctuated equilibrium

• genetic drift

• gene flow

the theory that attempts to explain the abrupt transitions in the fossil record instead of gradual changes

• gradualism

• punctuated equilibrium

• genetic drift

• gene flow

The theory of evolution developed by Darwin, based on four ideas: excess reproduction, variations, inheritance, and the advantages of specific traits in an environment.

• Natural selection

• evolution

• artificial selection

• biogeography

occurs in a relatively short time when one species gives rise to many species in response to a new habitat or another ecological opportunity

• allopatric speciation

• sympatric speciation

• bottleneck

• adaptive radiation

small sample of a population settles in a location separated from the rest of the population

• coevolution

• founder effect

• bottleneck

• genetic drift

a type of reproductive isolating mechanism that occurs after fertilization to ensure that a resulting hybrid remains infertile

• prezygotic isolation

• postzygotic isolation

• embryo

• allopatric speciation