Evolution Vocabulary

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Inherited

Back

Characteristics or conditions that are genetically passed down from one's parents or ancestors to their offspring.

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Fossils

Back

Preserved remains of once-living organisms.

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Bottleneck effect

Back

Genetic drift that results from an event that drastically reduces the size of a population.

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Vestigial structures

Back

Body parts that have lost their original function through evolution, such as the wings of flightless birds.

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Population

Back

All the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country.

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Natural selection

Back

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

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Analogous structures

Back

Body parts in different species that have similar functions but do not share a common ancestor.

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Fitness

Back

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.

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Evolution

Back

The change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

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Biogeography

Back

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.