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KEY TERMS

23 November, 2015 - 09:26
adaptation a heritable trait or behavior in an organism  that aids in its survival in its present environment
adaptive radiation a speciation when one species radiates out to form several other species
allopatric speciation a speciation that occurs via a geographic  separation
analogous structure a structure that is similar  because of evolution in response to similar selection pressures resulting in convergent evolution,  not similar because of descent from a common ancestor
bottleneck effect the magnification of genetic drift as a result of natural events or catastrophes
convergent evolution an evolution that results in similar forms on different species
dispersal an allopatric speciation that occurs when a few members of a species move to a new geographical area
divergent evolution an evolution that results in different forms in two species with a common ancestor
founder effect a magnification of genetic drift in a small population that migrates away from a large parent population carrying with it an unrepresentative set of alleles
gene flow the flow of alleles in and out of a population due to the migration of individuals or gametes
gene pool all of the alleles carried by all of the individuals in the population
genetic drift the effect of chance on a population’s gene pool
homologous structure a structure that is similar because of descent from a common  ancestor
inheritance of acquired characteristics a phrase  that describes the mechanism of evolution proposed by Lamarck in which traits acquired by individuals through use or disuse could be passed on to their offspring thus leading to evolutionary change in the population
macroevolution a broader scale of evolutionary changes seen over paleontological time
microevolution  the changes in a population’s genetic structure (i.e., allele frequncy)
migration the movement of individuals of a population  to a new location;  in population genetics it refers to the movement  of individuals and their alleles from one population to another, potentially changing allele frequencies in both the old and the new population
modern synthesis the overarching evolutionary  paradigm that took shape by the 1940s and is generally accepted today
natural selection the greater relative survival and reproduction of individuals in a population  that have favorable heritable traits, leading to evolutionary change population
genetics the study of how selective forces change the allele frequencies in a population over time
speciation a formation of a new species
sympatric speciation a speciation that occurs in the same geographic space
variation the variety of alleles in a population
vestigial structure a physical structure present in an organism but that has no apparent function and appears to be from a functional  structure in a distant ancestor
vicariance an allopatric speciation  that occurs when something  in the environment   separates organisms of the same species into separate groups