Taxonomy

the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms

Binomial Nomenclature

the system of nomenclature in which two terms are used to denote a species of living organism, the first one indicating the genus and the second the species

Archae

Kingdom where a group of micro-organisms that are similar to, but evolutionarily distinct from bacteria

Diversity

all of the variety of life that exists on Earth

Taxa

a taxonomic group of any rank, such as a species, family, or class

Biogeography

the branch of biology that deals with the geographical distribution of plants and animals

Homology

similarities caused by shared ancestry between two structures or genes

Directional Selection

a mode of natural selection in which a single phenotype is favored, causing the allele frequency to continuously shift in one direction

Recombination

the rearrangement of genetic material, especially by crossing over in chromosomes or by the artificial joining of segments of DNA from different organisms

Phylogenetic

relating to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms

Disruptive Selection

when the variance of a trait in the population increases

Cladogram

type of diagram that shows hypothetical relationships between groups of organisms

Artificial Selection

reproduction is controlled by humans

Gene Flow

the process of alleles moving from one population to another