Evolution Vocabulary

The process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors

• natural selection

• evolution

• adaptation

• darwinism

Features found in different organisms that share structural similarities but may have very different functions.

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

• vestigial structures

• uniformitarianism

Structures that perform a similar function but are not similar in origin.

• homologous structure

• analogous structure

• vestigial structure

• fossil

Remnants of once-important structures that gradually have lost all or most of their function over time

• homologous strucure

• analogous structure

• vestigial structure

• evolution

Geologic processes that shape Earth stay the same time.

• catastrophism

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• uniformitarianism

Preserved remains of an organism, or the trace evidence of an organism's existence in the past

• fossil

• artificial selection

• vestigial structure

• trace element

Mechanism by which individuals that have inherited beneficial adaptations show differential reproductive success

• darwinism

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• phylogenetics

A feature that allows an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• adaptation

• mutation

Process of changing a species by breeding it for certain traits

• artificial selection

• natural selection

• heritability

• survival of the fittest

The ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next

• adaptation

• fitness

• trait

• heritability