Evolution and Natural Selection

Front

What is geographical isolation?

Back

Geographical isolation occurs when populations of the same species are separated by physical barriers, such as rivers or mountains, preventing them from interbreeding.

Front

What is stabilizing selection?

Back

Stabilizing selection is a type of natural selection that favors average individuals in a population, reducing variation and leading to a decrease in extreme phenotypes.

Front

What is an analogous structure?

Back

Analogous structures are body parts in different species that have similar functions but evolved independently, indicating convergent evolution.

Front

What is fitness in the context of evolution?

Back

Fitness refers to an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its specific environment, contributing to the gene pool of the next generation.

Front

What is disruptive selection?

Back

Disruptive selection is a type of natural selection that favors extreme phenotypes over intermediate ones, leading to increased variation within a population.

Front

What is adaptation?

Back

Adaptation is a process by which a species becomes better suited to its environment through evolutionary changes.

Front

What is temporal isolation?

Back

Temporal isolation occurs when populations breed at different times, preventing interbreeding even if they live in the same area.

Front

What is a vestigial structure?

Back

Vestigial structures are body parts that have lost their original function through evolution, such as the human appendix.

Front

What is a homologous structure?

Back

Homologous structures are body parts in different species that share a common ancestry, even if they have different functions.

Front

What is adaptive radiation?

Back

Adaptive radiation is the process by which a single ancestral species rapidly diversifies into a wide variety of forms to adapt to different environments.