Vocabulary
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| 1291176341 | Evolution | Descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from the present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a population from generation to generation. | |
| 1291176342 | Fossil | A preserved remnant or impression of an organism that lived in the past. | |
| 1291176343 | Stratum | A rock layer formed when new layers of sediment cover older ones and compress them. | |
| 1291176344 | Paleontology | The scientific study of fossils. | |
| 1291176345 | Catastrophism | The principle that events in the past occurred suddenly and were caused by different mechanisms than those operating today. | |
| 1291176346 | Uniformitarianism | The principle stating that mechanisms of change are constant over time. | |
| 1291176347 | Adaptation | Inherited characteristic of an organism that enhances its survival and reproduction in specific environments. | |
| 1291176348 | Natural Selection | A process in which organisms with certain inherited characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than are organisms with other characteristics. | |
| 1291176349 | Artificial Selection | The selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits. | |
| 1291176350 | Homology | Similarity in characteristics resulting from a shared ancestry. | |
| 1291176351 | Homologous Structure | Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry. | |
| 1291176352 | Vestigial Structure | A structure of marginal, if any, importance to an organism. Vestigial structures are historical remnants of structures that had important functions in ancestors. | |
| 1291176353 | Evolutionary Tree | A branching diagram that reflects a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms. | |
| 1291176354 | Convergent Evolution | The evolution of similar features in independent evolutionary lineages. | |
| 1291176355 | Analogous | Having characteristics that are similar because of convergent evolution, not homology. | |
| 1291176356 | Biogeography | The study of the past and present distribution of species. | |
| 1291176357 | Continental Drift | The slow movement of the continental plates across the Earth's surface. | |
| 1291176358 | Pangaea | The supercontinent that formed near the end of the Paleozoic era, when plate movement brought all the landmasses of Earth together. | |
| 1291176359 | Endemic | Referring to a species that is confined to a specific, relatively small geographic area. |
