differential reproduction
Phenomenon in which individuals with adaptive genetic traits produce more living offspring than do individuals without such traits. See natural selection.
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Chapter 5 - Evolution and Biodiversity: Origins, Niches, and Adaptation
coevolution
Evolution in which two or more species interact and exert selective pressures on each other that can lead each species to undergo various adaptations. See evolution, natural selection.
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chemical evolution
Formation of the earth and its early crust and atmosphere, evolution of the biological molecules necessary for life, and evolution of systems of chemical reactions needed to produce the first living cells. These processes are believed to have occurred about 1 billion years before biological evolution. Compare biological evolution.
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biological evolution
Change in the genetic makeup of a population of a species in successive generations. If continued long enough, it can lead to the formation of a new species. Note that populations--not individuals--evolve. See also adaptation, differential reproduction, natural selection, theory of evolution.
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biodiversity
Variety of different species (species diversity), genetic variability among individuals within each species (genetic diversity), variety of ecosystems (ecological diversity), and functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities (functional diversity).
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background extinction
Normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environmental conditions. Compare mass depletion, mass extinction.
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artificial selection
Process by which humans select one or more desirable genetic traits in the population of a plant or animal and then use selective breeding to end up with populations of the species containing large numbers of individuals with the desired traits. Compare genetic engineering, natural selection.
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aquatic
Pertaining to water. Compare terrestrial.
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animals
Eukaryotic, multicelled organisms usually capable of mobility and unable to produce their own food (heterotrophs), such as sponges, jellyfishes, arthropods (insects, shrimp, lobsters), mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, octopuses), fish, amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders), reptiles (turtles, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, snakes), birds, and mammals (kangaroos, bats, cats, rabbits, elephants, whales, porpoises, monkeys, apes, humans). See carnivores, herbivores, omnivores.
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allele
Slightly different molecular form found in a particular gene.
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Pages
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