Life: The Science of Biology - CH 1 - Evolutionary Framework for Biology
Terms
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- Adaptation (a dap tay´ shun)
- evolutionary biology, a particular structure, physiological process, or behavior that makes an organism better able to survive and reproduce. Also, the evolutionary process that leads to the development or persistence of such a trait.
- Bacteria (bak teer´ ee ah) (singular: bacterium) [Gr. bakterion: little rod]
- karyote in the Domain Bacteria. The chromosomes of bacteria are not contained in nuclear envelopes.
- Comparative method
- approach to studying evolution and ecology in which hypotheses are tested by measuring the distribution of states among a large number of species.
- Domain
- largest unit in the current taxonomic nomenclature. Members of the three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya) are believed to have been evolving independently of each other for at least a billion years.
- Eukaryotes (yew car´ ree oats) [Gr. eu: true + karyon: kernel or nucleus]
- anisms whose cells contain their genetic material inside a nucleus. Includes all life other than the viruses, archaea, and bacteria.
- Genus (jean´ us) (plural: genera) [Gr. genos: stock, kind]
- roup of related, similar species.
- Homeostasis (home´ ee o sta´ sis) [Gr. homos: same + stasis: position]
- maintenance of a steady state, such as a constant temperature or a stable social structure, by means of physiological or behavioral feedback responses.
- Hypothesis-prediction method
- ethod of science in which hypotheses are generated, predictions are made from them, and experiments and observations are performed to test the predictions.
- Metabolism (meh tab´ a lizm) [Gr. metabole: to change]
- sum total of the chemical reactions that occur in an organism, or some subset of that total (as in respiratory metabolism).
- Natural selection
- differential contribution of offspring to the next generation by various genetic types belonging to the same population. The mechanism of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin.
- Photosynthesis (foe tow sin´ the sis) [literally, "synthesis from light"]
- abolic processes, carried out by green plants, by which visible light is trapped and the energy used to synthesize compounds such as ATP and glucose.
- Prokaryotes (pro kar´ ry otes) [L. pro: before + Gk. karyon: kernel, nucleus]
- anisms whose genetic material is not contained within a nucleus: the bacteria and archaea. Considered an earlier stage in the evolution of life than the eukaryotes.
- Species (spee´ shees) [L. specie: kind]
- basic lower unit of classification, consisting of a population or series of populations of closely related and similar organisms. The more narrowly defined "biological species" consists of individuals capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species.