Oh, the Humanity!: Evolutionary Biology - Middle School

If you need to learn about evolution, you'll naturally want to select this list of terms related to evolutionary biology. Review heredity, adaptation, extinction, and more. When it comes to vocabulary success, it's survival of the fittest — but this list is sure to give you an advantage over the competition.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. acquired
    gotten through environmental forces
  2. adaptation
    the process of adjusting or conforming to new conditions
  3. adaptive radiation
    the development of many different forms from an originally homogeneous group of organisms as they fill different ecological niches
  4. analogous
    corresponding in function but not in evolutionary origin
  5. anatomy
    the study of the structure of animals
  6. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  7. biogeography
    the study of the distribution of animals and plants
  8. camouflage
    exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something
  9. Charles Darwin
    English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)
  10. comparative anatomy
    the study of anatomical features of animals of different species
  11. competition
    the act of contending with others for rewards or resources
  12. diversity
    noticeable variety
  13. DNA
    material that carries genetic information in a cell
  14. embryonic
    of an organism prior to birth or hatching
  15. evolution
    sequence of events involved in the development of a species
  16. extinction
    the state of being no longer in existence
  17. fossil
    the remains of a plant or animal from a past geological age
  18. generation
    group of genetically related organisms in a line of descent
  19. genotype
    the particular alleles present in an organism
  20. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
  21. heredity
    the transmission of genetic factors to the next generation
  22. homologous
    having the same evolutionary origin
  23. homology
    sameness or correspondence in position, structure, function, or origin
  24. inherit
    receive by genetic transmission
  25. inherited
    occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
  26. isolation
    the act of setting something apart from others
  27. Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
    French naturalist who proposed that evolution resulted from the inheritance of acquired characteristics (1744-1829)
  28. macroevolution
    evolution on a large scale extending over geologic era and resulting in the formation of new taxonomic groups
  29. microevolution
    evolution resulting from small specific genetic changes that can lead to a new subspecies
  30. mimicry
    the resemblance of an animal species to another species
  31. natural selection
    a process in which organisms evolve to adapt to environment
  32. niche
    status or place of an organism within its environment
  33. overproduction
    too much production or more than expected
  34. phenotype
    observable characteristics produced by genes and environment
  35. phylogeny
    evolutionary development of a species or group of organisms
  36. polygenic
    of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes
  37. population
    a group of organisms of the same species inhabiting an area
  38. punctuated equilibrium
    a theory of evolution holding that evolutionary change in the fossil record came in fits and starts rather than in a steady process of slow change
  39. speciation
    the evolution of a biological species
  40. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  41. stratum
    one of several parallel layers of material
  42. survival of the fittest
    a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment
  43. taxonomy
    a classification of organisms based on similarities
  44. theory
    a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the world
  45. theory of evolution
    (biology) a scientific theory of the origin of species of plants and animals
  46. variation
    the process of being or becoming different
  47. vestigial
    not fully developed in mature animals
Created on Sun Feb 05 09:42:30 EST 2017 (updated Tue Apr 04 11:13:31 EDT 2017)

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