Holt Mcdougal Biology Ch 10 Sections 1-5

Front 1

Evolution

Back 1

The process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors.

Front 2

Species

Back 2

A group of organisms so similar to one another that they can reproduce and have fertile offspring.

Front 3

Fossils

Back 3

Traces of organisms that existed in the past.

Front 4

Catastrophism

Back 4

Theory that states natural disasters such as floods and volcanic eruptions have happened often during Earth's long history.

Front 5

Gradualism

Back 5

Principle that states changes in landforms resulted from slow changes over a long period of time.

Front 6

Uniformitarianism

Back 6

Proposes that present geologic processes are the key to the past.

Front 7

Variation

Back 7

The difference in the group in which it belongs.

Front 8

Adaptation

Back 8

A feature that allows an organism to better survive in it's environment.

Front 9

Artificial Selection

Back 9

The process by which humans change a species by breeding it for certain traits.

Front 10

Heritability

Back 10

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

Front 11

Natural Selection

Back 11

A mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptations produce more offspring on an average than do other individuals.

Front 12

Population

Back 12

All the individuals of a species that live in an area.

Front 13

Fitness

Back 13

A measure of the ability to survive and produce more offspring relative to other members of the population in a given environment.

Front 14

Biogeography

Back 14

The study of the distribution of organisms around the world.

Front 15

Homologous Structures

Back 15

Features that are similar in structure but appear in different organisms and have different functions.

Front 16

Analogous Structures

Back 16

Structures that perform a similar function but are not similar in origin.

Front 17

Vestigial Structures

Back 17

Remnants of organs or structures that had a function in an early ancestor.

Front 18

Paleontology

Back 18

The study of fossils or extinct organisms.