Evolution Vocabulary

The change over time in populations of related species.

• biological evolution

• transition

• variation

• adaptation

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The process where organisms best fit for the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

• natural selection

• adaptation

• hibernation

• selective breeding

• hybridization

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A slight difference in an inherited trait between individual members of the same species.

• variations

• adapatations

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

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Body parts of organisms that are the same in structure and position but different in function.

• embryos

• homologous structures

• analogous structures

• vestigial structures

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What is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring?

• Mutation

• Natural Selection

• Genetic Drift

• Speciation

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What best describes the hind leg bones seen in the whale?

• The bones are analogous structures to the fins of living fish.

• The bones are vestigial structures that had a function in an ancestor.

• The bones are homologous structures to the wings of butterflies.

• The bones are fossil structures from an extinct ancestor.

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Which of the following is a key component of natural selection?

• All individuals survive and reproduce equally

• Variation in traits among individuals

• No competition for resources

• Traits acquired during life are passed on

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Vestigial structures

• structures that perform a similar function but are not similar in origin

• remnants of once-important structures that have slowly lost all or most of their function

• features found in different organisms that share structural similarities but may have very different functions

• preserved remains of an organism

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Which of the following best describes natural selection?

• Random changes in DNA

• Survival of the fittest

• Inheritance of acquired traits

• Sudden appearance of new species

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Which of the following is NOT a unique trait that evolved in humans?

• Bipedalism

• A large cranium

• Canine Teeth

• Use of tools