1. evolution: change over time; the process by which modern organisms have

descended from ancient organisms

  1. fossil: preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms
  2. artificial selection: selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring
  1. adaptation: heritable characteristic that increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in an environment
  1. fitness: how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment
  1. natural selection: process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest
  1. biogeography: study of past and present distribution of organisms
  1. homologous structures: structures that are similar in different species of common ancestry
  1. analogous structures: body parts that share a common function, but not structure
  1. vestigial structure: structure that is inherited from ancestors but has lost much or all of its original function
  1. Darwin developed a scientific theory of biological evolution that explains how modern organisms evolved over long periods of time through descent fromcommon ancestors.
  2. Darwin noticed that different, yet ecologically similar, animal species inhabited separated, but ecologically similar, habitats around the globe.
  1. Darwin noticed that different, yet related, animal species often occupied different habitats within a local area.
  1. Darwin noticed that some fossils of extinct animals were similar to living species.
  1. Hutton and Lyell concluded that Earth is extremely old and that the processes that changed Earth in the past are the same processes that operate in the present.
  1. Lamarck suggested that organisms could change during their lifetimes by

selectively using or not using various parts of their bodies. He also suggested that individuals could pass these acquired traits on to their offspring, enabling species to change over time

  1. Malthus reasoned that if the human population grew unchecked, there wouldn’t be enough living space and food for everyone.
  1. Natural selection occurs in any situation in which more individuals are born than can survive (the struggle for existence), there is natural heritable variation(variation and adaptation), and there is variable fitness among individuals (survival of the fittest).
  1. According to the principle of common descent, all species—living and extinct—are descended from ancient common ancestors.
  1. Many recently discovered fossils form series that trace the evolution of modern species from extinct ancestors.
  1. Similar patterns of embryological development provide further evidence that organisms have descended from a common ancestor.
  1. All living cells use information coded in DNA and RNA to carry information fromone generation to the next and to direct protein synthesis.