A diversification of species over time as a result of specialized adaptations by particular populations of organisms.
A type of speciation that occurs when a population of organisms is divided by a geographic barrier.
Morphologic characteristics of two or more taxathat are superficially similar but not as a result of any common evolutionary origin.
A meat-eating organism, or an organism that eats only meat (as distinguished from an omnivore ).
The third most general of the obligatory taxonomic classification ranks, after phylum but before order.
Organisms that feed on waste matter, breaking organic material down into inorganic substances that then can become available to the biosphere in the form of nutrients for plants. Their function is similar to that of decomposers;however, unlike decomposers—which tend to be bacteria or fungi—detritivores are relatively complex organisms, such as earthworms or maggots.
Deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule in all cells, and many viruses, containing genetic codes for inheritance.
To adapt an organism, whether plant or animal, so as to be useful and advantageous for humans.
The third most specific of the seven obligatory ranks in taxonomy, after order but before genus.
A unit of information about a particular heritable (capable of being inherited) trait that is passed from parent to offspring, stored in DNA molecules called chromosomes.
The sum of all the genesshared by a population, such as that of aspecies.
The second most specific of the obligatory ranks in taxonomy, after family but before species.
A plant-eating organism.
The product of sexual union between members of two species or other smaller and less genetically separate groups, such as two races. In the case of species hybrids, the process of hybridization involves genetic abnormalities that lead in most cases to sterility.
An insect-eatingorganism.
The highest or most general ranking in the obligatory taxonomic system. In the system used in this book there are five kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.
Structure or form, or the study thereof.
Alteration in the physical structure of an organism's DNA, resulting in a genetic change that can be inherited.
The process whereby some organisms thrive and others perish, depending on their degree of adaptation to a particular environment.
An approach to taxonomy in which specific morphological characteristics of an organism are measured and assigned numerical value, so that similarities between two types of organism can be compared mathematically by means of an algorithm. Numerical taxonomy also is called phenetics.
An organism that eats both plants and other animals.
The middle of the seven obligatory ranks in taxonomy, more specific than class but more general than family.
An appendage with five digits, like the human arm and hand. This appendage is common to allmammals, though it may take very different forms—for example, the dolphin's flipper.
Another name for numerical taxonomy.
The evolutionary history of organisms, particularly as that history refers to the relationships between life-forms, and the broad lines of descent that unite them.
The second most general of the obligatory taxonomic classificationranks, after kingdom and before class.
The divergence of evolutionary lineages and creation of new species. See allopatric speciation and sym patric speciation.
The most specific of the seven obligatory ranks in taxonomy. Species often are defined as a population of individual organisms capable of mating with one another and producing fertile offspring in a natural setting. Also, members of the same species share a gene pool.
A type of speciation that occurs when a group of individuals becomes reproductively isolated from the larger population of the original species. This type of speciation typically results from mutation.
A taxonomic group or entity.
The area of the biological sciences devoted to the identification, nomenclature, and classification of organisms according to apparent common characteristics.
An animal with a spinal column.
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