What is the process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits?
Evolution
- Encyclopedia Britannica
Who is known for developing the theory of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution?
Charles Darwin
- National Geographic
What is the term for the process through which new species evolve from existing ones over time?
Speciation
- Science Daily
Which scientist proposed the theory of genetic drift as a mechanism for evolution in small populations?
Sewall Wright
- American Scientist
In evolution, what is the capacity of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment?
What term describes structures that have reduced or no function but were functional in ancestral species?
Vestigial organs
- Smithsonian Magazine
What mechanism of evolution involves the transfer of genes from one population to another due to movement of individuals?
What is the term for structures in different species that have the same function but evolved independently?
Analogous structures
- BMC Evolutionary Biology
Which type of evolution occurs when two unrelated species evolve similar traits due to similar environmental pressures?
Convergent evolution
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Which is a form of evidence for evolution that shows similarities in embryonic development among different species?
Embryology
- Scientific American
What principle of evolution proposes that species diversify rapidly into many new species when environmental changes occur?
Adaptive radiation
- New Scientist
Which scientist contributed significantly to the modern evolutionary synthesis by combining genetics with natural selection?
Theodosius Dobzhansky
- Annual Review of Genetics
What is the term for the random change in the frequency of alleles in a population over generations?
Genetic drift
- Cell Reports
Which geological dating technique is commonly used to determine the age of fossils and rocks related to evolution?
Radiometric dating
- Geology
In evolution, what do we call the inherited characteristics that increase an organism's chance of survival and reproduction?
Which phenomenon of evolution is based on the idea that small inherited changes can accumulate in a species over time?
Gradualism
- PLoS Biology
What is the name of the theory that supports the idea that evolution happens in sudden spurts followed by long periods of stability?
Punctuated equilibrium
- Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Which mechanism of evolution leads to the formation of new species due to geographic isolation of populations?
Allopatric speciation
- Evolutionary Biology
In genetics, what term is used to describe the exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes during meiosis?
Genetic recombination
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
What term refers to the study of the history of life forms on Earth and how they have changed over time?
Paleontology
- Science Advances
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