Natural Selection

A group of the same type of organism living in the same area

A specific characteristic of an individual

An animal that is hunted or killed by another animal for food

An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

A group of individuals born and living at about the same time

Any difference in traits of individual organisms; represented on a histogram by amount of “bars” (traits/options)

The number of individuals with each trait in a population; represented on a histogram by the height of the “bars”

Everything (biotic and abiotic) that surrounds an organism; does not stay the same forever

A trait that makes it more likely that an individual will survive in a specific environment; varies and depends on the environment; common in populations

Any trait that does not make it more likely an individual survives; varies and depends on the environment; uncommon in populations

An event or process that leads to a result or change

A result or change that happens because of an event or process

An instruction for making a protein molecule

Living things, such as plants, animals, and bacteria

Gene → protein → structures → traits

An organism produced as a result of reproduction

Protects against predators (warning, camouflage)

Long pieces of DNA that contain many genes and are passed down to offspring in 23 pairs, giving two copies of each gene

Different versions of a gene

To stay alive

The process by which the distribution of traits in a population naturally changes over many generations; more adaptive traits → more survival → more reproduction → more offspring with trait → distribution changes over time

A group of organisms of the same kind (in one or more populations) that do not reproduce with organisms from any other group

Two scientists who introduced natural selection

A type of large molecule made of amino acids that performs important functions inside organisms 

A random change to a gene that sometimes results in a new trait, which increases the chance the population will be able to adapt to a new environment; most are minor; can dominant a population if it helps you reproduce

The evolutionary process in which humans consciously select for or against particular traits in a population

Intentional modification of traits by altering genes

Divides the places where Asian animal species live from the places where South Pacific and Australian animals live; named after Alfred Russel Wallace

More in a population = more likely to survive if the environment changes and vice versa

Mainly shows variation and distribution of a population’s traits, but can also show mutations and total population.