A trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock.

A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce.

Change in a kind of organism over time process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

Process by which individuals that are better suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully also called survival of the fittest

Selection by humans for breeding of useful traits from the natural variation among different organisms.

Difference among members of a species

The theory that evolution occurs slowly but steadily

Pattern of evolution in which long stable periods are interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change.

Traveled to the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle and later wrote the book The Origin of Species

Strategy in which organisms make more offspring than will actually survive.

All the fossils throughout the history of the Earth that are used as evidence of evolution.

An ancestral species from which later species evolved

A structure that is present in an organism but no longer serves its original purpose (ex. hip bones in whales)

When members of a species become separated which may lead to the evolution of new species

Body parts that share a common function, but not structure.

A principle that geologic processes that occurred in the past can be explained by current geologic processes.

The ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next.

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.

What was the name of the large land mass before they became the 7 contents?