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| The chronicle of evolution over millions of years of geologic time engraved in the order in which fossils appear in rock strata. |
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| Similarity in various species that arose due to common ancestry. |
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| Similarity in various species due to convergent evolution (coincidental rather than genetic). |
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| Analagous structures in different species that evolved independently. |
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| An ordered division of organisms into categories based on a set of characteristics used to assess similarities and differences. |
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| Two-part format of the scientific name of organisms; genus and species. |
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| A taxonomic category above the species level, designated by the first word of a species′ two–part scientific name. |
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| The second part of a binomial, referring to one species within a genus. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above genus and below order. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above family and below class. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above order and below phylum. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above class and below kingdom. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above phylum and below domain. |
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| In classification, the highest taxonomic rank; contains Archae, Bacteria and Eukarya. |
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| The named taxonomic unit at any given level of classification. |
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| A branching diagram that represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships. |
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| Two-way branch point on a phylogenetic tree. |
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| A diagram depicting patterns of shared characteristics in organisms. |
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| A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants. |
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| The analysis of how species may be grouped into clades. |
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| A valid clade that consists of the ancestor species and all its descendents. |
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| Incomplete cladistic grouping that consists of an ancestral species and some, but not all, of the descendents. |
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| Incomplete cladistic grouping of several species that lack a common ancestor. |
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| Share Primitive Character |
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| A character that is shared beyond the taxon defined; ex) the backbone common to all vertebrates cannot distinguish mammals from birds, reptiles, etc. |
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| An evolutionary novelty unique to a particular clade; ex) hair distinguishes mammals from all other vertebrates. |
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| A species or group of species that is closely related to the group of species being studied, but clearly not as closely related as any study-group members are to each other; used as a basis of comparison. |
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| The group of taxa that is being analyzed in a cladistic study of evolutionary relationships. |
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| A phylogenetic tree in which the lengths of the branches reflect the number of genetic changes that have taken place in a particular DNA or RNA sequence in the various lineages. |
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| A phylogenetic tree in which the lengths of the branches reflect measurements of geological time. |
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| A principle that states that when considering multiple explanations for an observation, one should first investigate the simplest explanation that is consisten with the facts. |
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| A principle that states that when considering multiple phylogenetic hypotheses, one should take into account the one that reflects the most likely sequence of evolutionary events, given certain rules about how DNA changes over time. |
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| Homologous genes that are passed in a straight line from one generation to the next, but have ended up in different gene pools because of speciation; Ex) β hemoglobin genes in humans and in mice. |
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| Homologous genes that are found in the same genome due to gene duplication |
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| A yardstick for measuring the absolute time of evolutionary change based on the observation that some genes and other regions of genomes appear to evolve at constant rates. |
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| Much evolutionary change in genes and proteins has no effect on fitness and therefore is not influenced by Darwinian selection (it neither makes an organism stronger nor weaker). |
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| Genes are transferred from one genome to another through mechanisms such as transposable elements, and perhaps through fusions of different organisms. |
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| The emergence of biological structures or species that exhibit similar function and appearance but that evolved through widely divergent evolutionary pathways. |
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