Evolution

Evolution

Of or pertaining to the change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.

Industry: Archaeology

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Evolution

Bacteria

Archaeology; Evolution

Tiny, single-celled, prokaryotic organisms that can survive in a wide variety of environments. Some cause serious infectious diseases in humans, other animals, and plants.

Thecodont

Archaeology; Evolution

The thecodonts were a diverse group of Triassic reptiles that included large four-legged carnivores, armoured herbivores, small, agile two- and four-legged forms, and crocodile-like aquatic reptiles. ...

Concerted evolution

Archaeology; Evolution

The tendency of the different genes in a gene family to evolve in concert; that is, each gene locus in the family comes to have the same genetic variant.

Order

Archaeology; Evolution

The taxonomic classification level between class and family. For example, within the class Mammalia, there are several orders, including the meat-eaters, who make up the order Carnivora; and the ...

Phylogeny

Archaeology; Evolution

The study of ancestral relations among species, often illustrated with a "tree of life" branching diagram, which is also known as a phylogenetic tree.

Homologous structures

Archaeology; Evolution

The structures shared by a set of related species because they have been inherited, with or without modification, from their common ancestor. For example, the bones that support a bat's wing are ...

Richard Leakey

Archaeology; Evolution

The son of renowned anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey, Richard continued their work on early hominids from 1964 until the 1980s, making a number of significant fossil finds in the Lake Turkana ...