Evolution and Natural Selection

The study of prehistoric life that allows scientists to make connections between current and extinct species.

• Paleontology

• Archaeology

• Anthropology

• Geology

The wings of flightless birds, like the ostrich, are an example of this.

• Vestigial structures

• Functional adaptations

• Evolutionary traits

• Anatomical features

Study of nucleic acids and proteins to show evolutionary relationships.

• Biochemistry

• Genetics

• Molecular Biology

• Evolutionary Biology

When allelic frequencies are stable and unchanging, therefore evolution is not occurring.

• Genetic equilibrium

• Natural selection

• Genetic drift

• Mutation

Remnants of organisms such as imprints, bones, and feces.

• Fossil

• Mineral

• Rock

• Soil

Slow change in allele frequencies over long periods of time.

• Punctuated Equilibrium

• Gradualism

• Mutationism

• Natural Selection

Rapid evolutionary change.

• Punctuated equilibrium

• Gradualism

• Natural selection

• Adaptive radiation

When two organisms, such as predator and prey, evolve in response to one another.

• Coevolution

• Mutualism

• Parasitism

• Commensalism

Study of the physical distribution of plants and animals.

• Ecology

• Biogeography

• Botany

• Zoology

Body structures that are similar in orientation, but completely different in function due to organisms living in different environments.

• Homologous structures

• Analogous structures

• Vestigial structures

• Convergent structures