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| A correlation between population size/density and the mean individual fitness (often measured as per capita population growth rate) of a population or species |
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| The alternative form of a genetic character found at a given locus on a chromosome |
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| Behaviour that benefits other individuals at a cost to the individual who performs it |
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| A clade of tetrapod vertebrates comprising the reptiles, birds, and mammals which lay their eggs on land or retain the fertilised egg within the mother |
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| Only the right and left sides of an organism, divided by a single plane through the midline, are mirror images of each other |
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| A taxonomic naming system in which each species is given two names (genus and species) |
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| A major division of the ecological communities of Earth, characterised primarily by distinctive vegetation. A given biogeographical region contains many different biomes |
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| An early stage of the animal embryo; in many species, a hollow sphere of cells surrounding a central cavity (blastocoel) |
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| The rapid diversification of multicellular life that took place during the Cambrian period |
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| Molecules on animal cell surfaces that affect the selective association of cells into tissues during development of the embryo |
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| The dorsal anterior part of the forebrain, making up the largest part of the brain in mammals; the chief coordination centre of the nervous system; consists of two cerebral hemispheres |
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| A rhythm of growth or activity that recurs ~ every 24 hours (circa = approximately; dias = day) |
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| A diagram used in cladistics which shows relations among organisms |
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| An animal body cavity, enclosed by muscular mesoderm & lined with a mesodermal layer called peritoneum (which also surrounds internal organs) |
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| A type of interaction between species in which one participant benefits while the other is unaffected. (A commensal organism) |
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| A subphylum of animals. Blastopore becomes the anus. (from Greek "second mouth") |
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| The process whereby originally similar cells follow different developmental pathways; the actual expression of determination |
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| The action of distributing things over a wide area |
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| Relational position of a species or population in an ecosystem |
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| The outermost of the three embryonic germ layers first delineated during gastrulation. Gives rise to skin, nervous system and sense organs |
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| The innermost of the three embryonic germ layers delineated through gastrulation. Gives rise to the digestive and respiratory tracts and structures associated with them |
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| An animal which can control its body temperature by the expenditure of its own metabolic energy |
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| The scientific study of insects - a branch of anthropodology |
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| An approach to the study of behaviour that focuses on studying many species in natural environments and addresses questions about the evolution of behaviour |
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| Organisms whose cells contain their genetic material inside a nucleus (everything but viruses, archaea and bacteria) |
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| An organism in which the internal physiological sources of heat are relatively small or negligable in controlling body temperature |
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| A diagram of the blastula showing which cells (blastomeres) are "fated" to contribute to specific tissues and organs in the mature body |
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| The complete set of food links between species in a community; a diagram indicating which ones are the predators and which are the prey |
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| Any recognisable structure originating from an organism, or any impression from such a structure, that has been preserved over geological time |
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| The mature sexual reproductive cell (egg or sperm) |
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| A trilaminar structure - follows blastula after gastrulation |
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| The study of amphibians and reptiles |
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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 behavioural feedback responses |
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| Genes that act during development to determine the formation of an organ from the region of an embryo |
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| A change occuring between one developmental stage and another, e.g. a tadpole to frog |
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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 evolutin proposed by Charles Darwin |
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| A flexible rod of gelatinous material serving as a support in the embryos of all chordates & in the adults of tunciates and lancelets |
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| A group that consists of an ancestor and some, but not all, descendants |
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| An organism that consumes parts of an organism much larger than itself. Sometimes kills the host. |
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| The production of an organism from an unfertilised egg |
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| A chemical substance used in communication between organisms of the same species |
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| Free-floating small aquatic organisms (photosynthetic members are called phytoplankton) |
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| The condition in which any two halves of a body are mirror images of each other (providing the cut passed through the centre) |
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| The base unit of taxonomic classification, consisting of an ancestor-descendant group of populations of evolutionarily closely-related, similar organisms. The more narrowly defined "biological species" consists of individuals capable of interbreeding with each other but not those of a different species |
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| In animals, an undifferentiated cell capable of continuous proliferation. A stem cell generates more stem cells and a large clone of differentiated progeny cells |
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| A group of organisms united by obtaining their energy from the same part of the food web of a biological community |
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| The study of all forms of animal life, including behaviour, reproduction, evolution and interactions |
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| Cell created by the union of two gametes, in which gamete nuclei are also fused. The earliest stage of the diploid generation |
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