- What is natural selection?
- What is adaptation?
- What is the difference between an inherited trait and an acquired trait?
- What was the name of the ship that Darwin traveled on?
- What is the name of the islands where Darwin studied evolution?
- A giraffe’s long neck allows the giraffe to eat leaves from high in the tree. This is an
example of an _____. - Who proposed a theory of evolution by natural selection that was similar to Darwin’s
theory?
Further Reading / Supplemental Links
- Stein, Sara, The Evolution Book, Workman, N.Y., 1986.
- Yeh, Jennifer, Modern Synthesis, (From Animal Sciences).
- Darwin, Charles, Origin of the Species, Broadview Press (Sixth Edition), 1859.
- Ridley, Matt, The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, Perennial
Books, 2003. - Ridley, Matt, Genome, Harper Collins, 2000.
- Sagan, Carl, Cosmos, Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 2006.
- Carroll, Sean B., The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record
of Evolution, Norton, 2006. - Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker, W.W. Norton & Company, 1996.
- Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, 1989.
- Diamond, Jared, The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human
Animal, HarperCollins, 2006. - Mayr, Ernst, What Evolution Is, Basic Books, 2001.
- Zimmer, Carl, Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins, Smithsonian Press,
2008. - http://en.wikipedia.org/
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.