adaptations - correct answer Inherited characteristics that enhance the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular
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homologous structures - correct answer Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.
natural selection - correct answer Differential success in the reproduction of different phenotypes resulting from the interaction of organisms with their environment. Evolution occurs when natural selection causes changes in relative frequencies of alleles in the gene pool.
paleontology - correct answer The study of fossils.
Pangaea - correct answer The supercontinent formed near the end of the Paleozoic era when plate movements brought all the landmasses of Earth together.
uniformitarianism - correct answer Charles Lyell's idea that geologic processes have not changed throughout Earth's history.
vestigial organs - correct answer Structures of marginal, if any, importance to an organism. They are historical remnants of structures that had important functions in ancestors.
analogy - correct answer The similarity of structure between two species that are not closely related; attributable to convergent evolution.
artificial selection - correct answer The selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits.
biogeography - correct answer The study of the past and present distribution of species.
catastrophism - correct answer The hypothesis by Georges Cuvier that each boundary between strata corresponded in time to a catastrophe, such as a flood or drought, that had destroyed many of the species living there at that time.
convergent evolution - correct answer The independent development of similarity between species as a result of their having similar ecological roles and selection pressures.
endemic species - correct answer Species that are confined to a specific, relatively small geographic area.
evolution - correct answer All the changes that have transformed life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to the diversity that characterizes it today.
fossil - correct answer A preserved remnant or impression of an organism that lived in the past. [Show Less]