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Biological Species Concept |
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definition of a species as a population or group of populations whose members can breed with one another in nature and produce fertile offspring |
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major biological changes evident in the fossil record |
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condition in which a reproductive barrier keeps two species from interbreeding |
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separation of populations as a result of geographic change or migration to geographically isolated places |
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evolution from a common ancestor of many species adapted to diverse environments |
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evolutionary model suggesting species often diverge in spurts of relatively rapid change, followed by long periods of little change |
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study of multicellular organisms as they develop from fertilized eggs to fully formed organisms |
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Earth's history organized into four eras: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic |
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determination of absolute ages of rocks and fossils through calculations based on a radioactive isotope's fixed rate of decay |
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time it takes for 50 percent of a radioactive isotope sample to decay |
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motion of continents about Earth's surface on plates of crust floating on the hot mantle |
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episode of great species lost |
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identification, naming, and classification of species |
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two-part Latin name of a species |
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branching diagram, suggesting evolutionary relationships, that classifies species into groups within groups |
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process in which unrelated species from similar environments have adaptations that seem very similar |
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similarities among unrelated species that result from convergent evolution |
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homologous characteristic that unites organisms as a group |
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phylogenetic tree constructed from a series of two-way branch points, suggesting ancestral relationships among species |
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