Special Creation

A view on the history of life -Species do not change -Lineages do not split -Each species is separately created -Earth and life are young

Descent with Modification

A view on the history of life -Species change over time(microevolution) -Lineages split and diverge(speciation) -New life-forms derive from older forms(macroevolution) -All life-forms are related(common ancestry) -Earth and life are old

Microevolution

Changes in gene frequencies and trait distributions that occur within populations and species

Speciation

The process whereby an ancestral species give rise to a pair of daughter species

Macroevolution

Large evolutionary change, usually in morphology; typically refers to the evolution of differences among populations that would warrant their placement in different genera or higher level taxa

Vestigial Structure

A useless or rudimentary version of a body part that has an important function in other, closely allied, species

Fossil

Any trace of an organism that lived in the past

Fossil Record

The worldwide collection of fossils

Law of Succession

The general pattern of correspondence between fossil and living forms from the same local

Transitional Forms

Give us a way to test specific hypotheses about macroevolution by making predictions that we can confirm or refute by digging for fossils

Homology

The study of likeness "The same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function"

Non-homologous

Example- Dolphins/Whale vs Sharks They move differently, up and down vs side to side

Geologic Time Scale

Radiometric Dating

A technique that uses unstable isotopes of naturally occurring elements

Natural Selection

A difference, on average, between the survival or fecundity of individual with certain phenotypes compared with individuals with other phenotypes 1. The individuals within a population differ from one another. 2. The differences are, at least in part, passed from parents to offspring. 3. Some individuals are more successful at surviving and reproducing than others. 4. The successful individuals are not merely lucky; instead, they succeed because of the variant traits they have inherited and will pass to their offspring.

Adaptation

A trait that increases an organism's fitness relative to individuals lacking it

Transitions

In DNA, a mutation that substitutes a purine for a purine or a pyrirnidine for a pyrimidine.

Sister Species

The species that diverged from the same ancestral node on a phylogenetic tree

Phylogeny/Phylogenetic Tree

A diagram showing the history of divergence and evolutionary change leading from a single ancestral lineage to a suite of descendants. In other words, it depicts a group of organisms' genealogical relationships as they are understood according to Darwin's theory of descent with modification from common ancestors.

Parsimony

A criterion for selecting among alternative patterns or explanations based on minimizing the total amount of change or complexity

Synapomorphy

A shared, derived character; in a phylogenetic analysis, synapomorphies are used to define clades and distinguish them from outgroups

Homoplasy

Similarity in character states due to convergence and/or reversal

Monophyletic

Also known as a clade, consists of an ancestor and all of its descendants

Paraphyletic

A group consisting of an ancestor and some, but not all, of its descendants

Polyphyletic

A group that contains some, but not all, of its descendants, and that also excludes its ancestor