| |
adaptation - a feature, structure, habit or function of an organism enabling it to survive and reproduce better than if it lacked that feature.
allele - one of the alternative forms of a gene having a distinct genotype and often, a distinct phenotype; differs from the other alleles of the same gene by one or more DNA base pairs.
genetic variation - differences in morphology, physiology, or behavior among individuals of a species; caused by genetic and environmental factors; only genetic variation is affected by natural selection.
natural selection - the process in nature by which individuals in a population best adapted to the environment increase in frequency relative to less well-adapted forms over a number of generations.
phenotype - the traits (physical, biochemical, behavioral, etc.) of an organism controlled by the interaction of its genes with the environment.
population - a group of organisms of the same species that interbreed and share the same gene pool.
species - an important classification category which is defined in at least five different ways; the most common definition is the biological species concept, which says that a species is a set of organisms which can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
