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| In evolutionary biology, a particular structure, physiological process, or behavior that makes an organism better able to survive and reproduce. Also, the evolutionary process that leads to the development or persistence of such a trait. |
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| Prokaryote in the Domain Bacteria. The chromosomes of bacteria are not contained in nuclear envelopes. |
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| An approach to studying evolution and ecology in which hypotheses are tested by measuring the distribution of states among a large number of species. |
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| The largest unit in the current taxonomic nomenclature. Members of the three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya) are believed to have been evolving independently of each other for at least a billion years. |
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| Organisms whose cells contain their genetic material inside a nucleus. Includes all life other than the viruses, archaea, and bacteria. |
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| A group of related, similar species. |
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| The maintenance of a steady state, such as a constant temperature or a stable social structure, by means of physiological or behavioral feedback responses. |
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| Hypothesis-prediction method |
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| A method of science in which hypotheses are generated, predictions are made from them, and experiments and observations are performed to test the predictions. |
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| The sum total of the chemical reactions that occur in an organism, or some subset of that total (as in respiratory metabolism). |
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| The differential contribution of offspring to the next generation by various genetic types belonging to the same population. The mechanism of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. |
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| Metabolic processes, carried out by green plants, by which visible light is trapped and the energy used to synthesize compounds such as ATP and glucose. |
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| Organisms whose genetic material is not contained within a nucleus: the bacteria and archaea. Considered an earlier stage in the evolution of life than the eukaryotes. |
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| The basic lower unit of classification, consisting of a population or series of populations of closely related and similar organisms. The more narrowly defined "biological species" consists of individuals capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species. |
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