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Descent with Modification definitions

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  • Evolution
    The gradual change in heritable traits within a biological population over successive generations, driven by mechanisms like natural selection, genetic drift, and mutation.
  • Phenotype
    Observable traits of an organism resulting from the interaction of its genetic makeup and environmental influences.
  • Lamarckism
    The theory that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring, influenced by use or disuse of body parts.
  • Alleles
    Variants of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome, influencing specific traits.
  • Natural Selection
    The process where heritable traits that enhance survival and reproduction become more common in a population over generations due to differential reproductive success.
  • Fitness
    The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce, often influenced by heritable traits that enhance survival and reproductive success in a given environment.
  • Adaptation
    A trait that enhances an organism's fitness, maintained and evolved through natural selection, allowing better survival and reproduction in a specific environment.
  • Industrial Melanism
    When organisms develop darker pigmentation due to industrial pollution, enhancing their survival by better camouflage in a polluted environment.
  • Artificial Selection
    The process by which humans selectively breed organisms to enhance desired traits, leading to significant changes in the species over generations.
  • Transitional Features
    Traits that exhibit intermediate forms between ancestral and descendant species, illustrating evolutionary transitions.
  • Vestigial Traits
    Structures or attributes that have lost their original function through evolution but still persist in an organism, like the remnants of hind legs in whales.
  • Morphology
    Study of the form, structure, and configuration of organisms, including aspects like shape, size, and arrangement of parts, often used to understand evolutionary relationships and adaptations.
  • Gene Pool
    The total genetic diversity found within a population or species, encompassing all the different alleles of every gene present.
  • Genetic Variation
    Differences in DNA among individuals in a population, leading to diverse traits that can be inherited and influence survival and reproduction.
  • Fitness Trade Offs
    Compromises between traits where an advantage in one aspect may lead to a disadvantage in another, affecting an organism's overall fitness and evolutionary success.