Evolution Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 3. A phenotypic characteristic, acquired during growth and development, that is not genetically based and therefore cannot be passed on to the next generation (for example, the large muscles of a weightlifter).
  2. 5. A person who believes that the existence of a god or creator and the nature of the universe is unknowable.
  3. 6. Speciation that occurs when two or more populations of a species are geographically isolated from one another sufficiently that they do not interbreed.
  4. 8. The diversification, over evolutionary time, of a species or group of species into several different species or subspecies that are typically adapted to different ecological niches (for example, Darwin's finches). The term can also be applied to larger groups of organisms, as in "the adaptive radiation of mammals."
  5. 10. (as applied to theory of inheritance) Inheritance in which the entities controlling heredity are relatively distinct, permanent, and capable of independent action. Mendelian inheritance is an atomistic theory because in it, inheritance is controlled by distinct genes.
  6. 11. Any heritable characteristic of an organism that improves its ability to survive and reproduce in its environment. Also used to describe the process of genetic change within a population, as influenced by natural selection.
  7. 12. The original form or body plan from which a group of organisms develops.
Down
  1. 1. The process by which humans breed animals and cultivate crops to ensure that future generations have specific desirable characteristics. In artificial selection, breeders select the most desirable variants in a plant or animal population and selectively breed them with other desirable individuals. The forms of most domesticated and agricultural species have been produced by artificial selection; it is also an important experimental technique for studying evolution.
  2. 2. The relation between the size of an organism and the size of any of its parts. For example, an allometric relation exists between brain size and body size, such that (in this case) animals with bigger bodies tend to have bigger brains. Allometric relations can be studied during the growth of a single organism, between different organisms within a species, or between organisms in different species.
  3. 4. A graph of the average fitness of a population in relation to the frequencies of genotypes in it. Peaks on the landscape correspond to genotypic frequencies at which the average fitness is high, valleys to genotypic frequencies at which the average fitness is low. Also called a fitness surface.
  4. 7. A mode of coping with competition or environmental conditions on an evolutionary time scale. Species adapt when succeeding generations emphasize beneficial characteristics.
  5. 9. A behavior has adaptive logic if it tends to increase the number of offspring that an individual contributes to the next and following generations. If such a behavior is even partly genetically determined, it will tend to become widespread in the population. Then, even if circumstances change such that it no longer provides any survival or reproductive advantage, the behavior will still tend to be exhibited -- unless it becomes positively disadvantageous in the new environment.