Adaptation

An inherited trait that helps an organism survive.

Evolution

The process of how organisms acquire adaptations over time.

Ancestor

An organism from which others have descended

Cladogram

A tree like diagram that displays revolutionary relationships among living spices and their ancestors

Homologus structures

Body structures that have a common origin but do not necessarily perform the same function.

Vertebrate

Animals with a backbone

Fossil

A remnant or trace of an organism from the past, such as a skeleton or a leaf imprint, embedded and perserved in earths crust.

Fossil record

A historical sequence of life based on the sequence of fossils.

Natural selection

The process by which organisms with favorable adaptations survive and reproduce at a higher rate than organisms with less favorable adaptations.

Invertebrate

Animals without a backbone

Genetic variation

The variety of alleles in a population

Extinction

this occurs when the environment changes and the adaptations of a species are no longer sufficient for its survival.

Melanism

is the increased concentration of the dark pigment melanin in an organism, resulting in unusually dark coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, or other body parts.

Mimicry

means the act of imitation, but in the animal world, it is defined as “the close external resemblance of an animal… to another animal, plant, or inanimate object.” Animals mimic other animals, plants, and other things, in a wide variety of ways, from visual mimicry to auditory or olfactory imitation.

What book did Charles Darwin write and where was he when he wrote it.

The Origin of the Species, sailed on the HMS Beagle collecting specimens.

What are Darwins 5 points of natural selection

Populations have variations, some are favorable, more offspring are produced than survive, those that survive have favorable traits, and a population will change over time.