The manner in which an organism adjusts to changes in altitude or climate (somewhat similar to adaptation).
An alteration or adjustment by which a species or individual improves its condition in relationship to its environment.
The relatively rapid evolution of many species from a single species that generally occurs when colonizers reach geographically remote areas
A plantlike organism of any of several phyla, divisions, or classes of chiefly aquatic
usually chlorophyll-containing nonvascular organisms of polyphyletic origin that usually
include the green, yellow-green, brown, and red algae in the eukaryotes and the blue-green
algae in the prokaryotes.
One of a pair or series of alternative forms of a gene occupying the same locus in homologous chromosomes.
The relative occurrence of an allele within a given population or gene pool.
Behavior of an individual that directly benefits other members of a population.
Any animal with scaleless skin that lives its life both on water and on land.
The structure of the body of living things.
A loss or gain of part of a set of chromosomes.
A body part of one species that resembles or serves the same function as a body part of
a different species because both structures evolved independently as similar adaptations
to their environments.
Polyploid that is formed via sexual reproduction.
The formation of a new species that occurs when populations are initially separated, as
in allopatric speciation, but then are united, allowing parapatric speciation to finish
the separation process.
The formation of new species due to a geographic barrier which divides an existing
species into two or more smaller populations so that interbreeding between the resulting
populations is prevented. Also known as Geographical Speciation.
A categorization of bacteria typically found in unusual environments and distinguished
from the rest of the prokaryotes by several criteria, including the number of ribosomal
proteins and the lack of muramic acid in cell walls. Commonly known as Archaeobacteria.
The period of the Earth lasting from 5 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. It is the
earliest era of the earth's history.
The process in which male gametes, the spermatozoa, are collected and introduced
artificially into the female genital tract for the purpose of fertilization.
Any animal that belongs to the phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods are characterized by an
exoskeleton made of chitin and jointed bodies.
Reproduction, not involving fertilization or genetic recombination, in which a new
organism develops from parts of, or from parts produced by, one parent.
The sudden reappearance in an animal or a plant of a trait that has existed before only
in ancient ancestors.
The supposed descendants of man with a third the cranial capacity (skull capacity) that man has.
Polyploid that is formed via sexual reproduction.