READ: Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

Vocabulary

acquired trait

A feature that an organism gets during its lifetime in response to the environment (not from genes); not passed on to future generations through genes.

adaptation

Beneficial traits that help an organism survive in its environment. Organisms with beneficial traits are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass their traits on to future generations than those without the special traits. These traits are called adaptations.

artificial selection

Selection in which people choose specific traits to pass to the next generation, such as with horse or dog breeding.

evolution

A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage, such as a living organism turning into a more advanced or mature organism; the change of the inherited traits of a group of organisms over many generations.

evolution by natural selection

The changes in the inherited traits of a population from one generation to the next; due to a process in which organisms that are best suited to their environments have greater survival and reproductive success.

Galápagos Islands

A group of islands in the Pacific off South America; owned by Ecuador; known for unusual animal life. Many scientists, including Charles Darwin made many discoveries that led to the theory of evolution by natural selection while studying the plants and animals on these islands.

inherited traits

Features that are passed from one generation to the next.

natural selection

Results when some organisms have traits that make them better suited to live in a certain environment than others; they are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass their traits on to future generations than those without the special traits.

species

A group of individuals that are genetically related and can breed to produce fertile young.

trait

A feature or characteristic of an organism. For example, your height, hair color, and eye shape are physical traits.