Evolution

Evolution

Of or pertaining to the change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.

Industry: Archaeology

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Evolution

tunicate

Archaeology; Evolution

A group of simple chordates, including sea squirts (class Ascidacea) that live attached to rocks, and the salps (class Thaliacea) that float in the sea. Tunicates are small marine animals, ...

fixed

Archaeology; Evolution

(1) In population genetics, a gene is "fixed" when it has a frequency of 100 percent. (2) In creationism, species are described as "fixed" in the sense that they are believed not to change their ...

plasmid

Archaeology; Evolution

A genetic element that exists (or can exist) independently of the main DNA in the cell. In bacteria, plasmids can exist as small loops of DNA and be passed between cells independently.

virus

Archaeology; Evolution

A kind of intracellular parasite that can replicate only inside a living cell. In its dispersal stage between host cells, a virus consists of nucleic acid that codes for a small number of genes, ...

mutation

Archaeology; Evolution

A change in genetic material that results from an error in replication of DNA. Mutations can be beneficial, harmful, or neutral.

typology

Archaeology; Evolution

(1) The definition of classificatory groups by phenetic similarity to a "type" specimen. A species, for example, might be defined as all individuals less than x phenetic units from the species' type. ...

prokaryote

Archaeology; Evolution

A cell without a distinct nucleus. Bacteria and some other simple organisms are prokaryotic. Compare with eukaryote. In classificatory terms, the group of all prokaryotes is paraphyletic.