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

Ken Miller

Archaeology; Evolution

A cell biologist and professor of biology at Brown University. Miller's academic research focuses on the structure and function of biological membranes. He is the coauthor of widely used high school ...

Law

Archaeology; Evolution

A description of how a natural phenomenon will occur under certain circumstances.

Peripheral isolate speciation

Archaeology; Evolution

A form of allopatric speciation in which the new species is formed from a small population isolated at the edge of the ancestral population's geographic range. Also called peripatric speciation.

Prokaryote

Archaeology; Evolution

A cell without a distinct nucleus. Bacteria and some other simple organisms are prokaryotic. Compare with eukaryote. In classificatory terms, the group of all prokaryotes is paraphyletic.

Stepped cline

Archaeology; Evolution

A cline with a sudden change in gene or character frequency.

Transitional fossil

Archaeology; Evolution

A fossil or group of fossils representing a series of similar species, genera, or families, that link an older group of organisms to a younger group. Often, transitional fossils combine some traits ...

Ecological species concept

Archaeology; Evolution

A concept of species, according to which a species is a set of organisms adapted to a particular, discrete set of resources (or "niche") in the environment. Compare with biological species concept, ...