Evolution Vocabulary

4. A change over time in the genetic composition of a population (change in allele frequency) that occurs through random mutations and non-random natural selection
6. tree a branching diagram showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among species
7. Mass extinctions/repopulations explain changes in fossil record
8. Evolution where different organisms that share similar habitats become more alike
11. Measure of organism's reproductive success (greater number of offspring that carry your genes)
13. Similar developmental patterns seen in all vertebrates
15. Study of the distribution of organisms
16. Preserved remains of once-living organisms
17. Characteristic that helps an organism be more suited to its environment/survive and reproduce
19. Nature provides differences; humans choose useful traits
20. Occurs when previous adaptations are no longer suitable to a changed environment

1. Evolution where closely related species become different as they move into new environments
2. Science of grouping and naming organisms
3. Body parts with similar structure but not necessarily same function
5. Organisms have descended from a common ancestor
9. Broad explanation that can be used to make predictions and generate new hypotheses
10. Geological processes that have shaped Earth over millions of years and are still happening
12. Remnants of structures that had functions in ancestors
14. the within-species phenotypic variation caused by spontaneously arising mutations that have been maintained in nature by any evolutionary process including, among others, artificial and natural selection
18. Different structures with similar function in different species