AP Bio Chapter 22 Vocabulary

373643	natural selection	the mechanism for evolution
373644	evolutionary adaptation	natural selection leads to ___________ ___________, as individuals with beneficial heritable traits leave more offspring, and the frequency of such traits in a population increases over generations
373645	evolution	the changes in a population's genetic composition over time
373646	taxonomy	the branch of biology that names and classifies organisms; originated in the work of Linnaeus
373647	fossils	______ are remnants or impressions of past organisms
373648	paleontology	the study of fossils
373649	catastrophism	Cuvier believed in ___________; he maintained that the differences he observed in the fossils found in different strata were the result of locat catastrophic events such as floods or drought and were not indicative of evolution
373650	gradualism	the idea that immense change is the cumulative result tof slow but continuous processes; proposed by Hutton
373651	artificial selection	humans have modified other species over many generations by selecting and breeding individuals that posses desired traits - __________ __________
373652	homology	similarity in characteristics resulting from a shared ancestry
373653	homologous structures	the arms, forelegs, flippers, and wings of different mammals are ________ _________ that represent variations on a structural theme that was present in their common ancestry
373654	vestigial organs	some of the most intriguing homologous structures are _____ _________, structures of marginal importance to the organism
373655	biogeography	the study of the past and present distribution of species
373656	endemic	plants and animals found nowhere else in the world