Caroline Zito

Chapter 15 Vocabulary

1. Analogous structures structures that do not have a common evolutionary
origin but are similar in function.
2. Artificial selection process of breeding organisms with specific traits in
order to produce offspring with identical traits.
3. Camouflage structural adaption that enables species to blend with their
surroundings; allows a species to avoid detection by predators.
4. Embryo earliest stage of growth and development of both plants and
animals; differences and similarities among embryos can provide evidence of
evolution; the young diploid sporophyte of a plant.
5. Homologous structures structures with common evolutionary origins; can
be similar in arrangement, in function, or in both; provides evidence of
evolution from a common ancestor; forelimbs of crocodiles, whale, and birds,
are examples.
6. Mimicry structural adaption that enables one species to resemble another
species; may provide protection from predators or other advantages.
7. Natural selection mechanism for change in population; occurs when
organisms with favorable variations survive, reproduce, and pass their
variations to the next generation.
8. Vestigial structures a structure in a present-day organism that no longer
serves its natural purpose, but was probably useful to an ancestor; provides
evidence of evolution.
9. Adaptive radiation divergent evolution in which ancestral species evolve
into an array if species to fit a number of diverse habitats.
10. Allelic frequency percentage of any specific allele in a populations gene
pool.
11. Convergent evolution evolution in which distantly related organisms evolve
similar traits; occurs when unrelated species occupy similar environments.
12. Directional selection natural selection that favors one of the extreme
variations of a trait; can lead to rapid evolution in a population.
13. Disruptive selection natural selection that favors individuals with either
extreme of a trait; tends to eliminate intermediate phenotypes.
14. Divergent evolution evolution in which species that once were similar to an
ancestral species diverge; occurs when populations change as they adapt to
different environmental conditions; eventually resulting in a new species.
15. Gene pool all of the alleles in a populations genes.
16. Genetic drift alteration of allelic frequencies in a population by chance
events; results in disruption of genetic equilibrium.
17. Genetic equilibrium condition in which the frequency of alleles in a
population remains the same over generations.
18. Geographic isolation occurs whenever a physical barrier divides a
population, which results in individuals no longer being able to mate; can
lead to the formation of a new species.
19. Gradualism idea that species originate through a gradual change of
adaptions.
20. Polyploid any species with multiple sets of the normal set of chromosomes;
results from errors during mitosis or meiosis.
21. Punctuated equilibrium idea that periods of speciation occur relatively
quickly with long periods of genetic equilibrium in between.
22. Reproductive isolation occurs when formerly interbreeding organisms can
no longer produce fertile offspring due to an incompatibility of their genetic
material or by differences in mating behavior.
23. Speciation process of evolution of new species that occurs when members
of similar populations no longer interbreed to produce fertile offspring
within their natural environment.
24. Stabilizing selection natural selection that favors average individuals in a
population; results in a decline in population variation.