Coombs - APES Chapter 4 Flashcards

216497125	biological evolution	genetic changes in the populations of living organisms
216497126	Charles Darwin	Proposed natural selection as mechanism for biological evolution "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" - 1859
216497127	natural selection	process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species
216497128	chemical evolution	chemical changes that occured to earth during its first billion years of existence that allowed it to become hospitable for living organisms
216497129	fossils	used to determine which organisms lived in the past; mineralized or petrified replicas of skeletons, bones, teeth, shells, leaves, seeds, etc.
216497130	ice cores	used to determine which organisms lived in the past; drilled from glacial ice to analyze chemicals found within
216497131	DNA analysis	used to determine which organisms lived in the past; genetic samples from fossilized remains are compared to genetic samples from organisms alive at the present
216497132	mutation	change or mistake in the DNA of an organism; occur naturally and sometimes caused by exposure to toxins and/or radiation; lead to genetic variability in a population; can be good, bad or neutral
216497133	differential reproduction	some organisms get to reproduce at higher rates than others; organisms with traits that help them survive and allow them to well suited for their environment will reproduce at higher rates than organisms that are ill adapted to their environment
216497134	adaptation / adaptive trait	genetic characteristic that allows an organism to survive better
216497135	coevolution	2 organisms/populations changing genetically in response to each other; ex: bats and moths
216497136	hybrid / hybridization	2 distinct species breeding and creating a new unique species; rarely occurs in nature; more common due to human research and human influences; ex: beefalo, liger, etc.
216497137	horizontal gene transfer	transfer of genes from one organism/genome to another through mechanisms such as transposable elements, plasmid exchange, viral activity, and perhaps fusions of different organisms
216497138	tectonic plates	sections of the Earth's crust that move due to convection currents
216497139	ecological niche / niche	organisms way of life; what resources it uses, how and when it uses those resources, etc.
216497140	generalist species	broad habitat and niche; can live in many places and many conditions; ex: grey squirrel, white-tail deer, cockroach, raccoon, etc.
216497141	specialist species	narrow habitat and niche; can only live in very specific places and under very specific conditions; ex: giant panda, orchids, etc.
216497142	evolutionary divergence	process whereby natural selection causes populations to become more different over time
216497143	speciation	formation of new species
216497144	geographic isolation	form of reproductive isolation in which two populations are separated physically by geographic barriers such as rivers, mountains, or stretches of water
216497145	reproductive isolation	separation of species or populations so that they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring
216497146	extinction	total loss of a species
216497147	endemic species	organism that is found only in one very specific location
216497148	background extinction	natural extinction rate; some species will go extinct under normal conditions as environmental conditions change; ex: one to five species for each million species on earth
216497149	mass extinction	large number of species going extinct in a very short period of time; ex: there have been 5 mass extinctions over the last 500 million years; ex: dinosaurs going extinct is an example of a mass extinction
216497150	mass depletion	widespread, often global period during which extinction rates are higher than normal but not high enough to classify as a mass extinction
216497151	artificial selection	selection by humans for breeding of useful traits from the natural variation among different organisms; ex: different breeds of dogs
216497152	genetic engineering	the transfer of a gene from the DNA of one organism into another organism, in order to produce an organism with desired traits
216497153	gene splicing	the process by which the DNA of an organism is cut and a gene from another is inserted
216497154	recombinant DNA	genetically engineered DNA made by recombining fragments of DNA from different organisms
216497155	genetically modified organisms (GMO's)	organisms whose genetic code has been altered by artificial means such as interspecies gene transfer; Currently 82% soybeans, 71% cotton and 1/4 corn grown in US are GMO's
216497156	cloning	making a genetically identical copy of DNA or of an organism