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Ch 15 Vocabulary Name:____________ 1. Biological Species Concept- definition of a species as a population or group of populations whose members can breed with one another in nature and produce fertile offspring 2. Macroevolution- major biological changes evident in the fossil record 3. Speciation-formation of new species 4. Reproductive Isolation- condition in which a reproductive barrier keeps two species from interbreeding 5. Geographic Isolation- separation of populations as a result of geographic change or migration to geographically isolated places 6. Adaptive Radiation- evolution from a common ancestor of many species adapted to diverse environments 7. Punctuated Equilibrium- evolutionary model suggesting species often diverge in spurts of relatively rapid change, followed by long periods of little change 8. Embryology- study of multicellular organisms as they develop from fertilized eggs to fully formed organisms 9. Geologic Time Scale- Earth's history organized into four eras: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic 10. Radiometric Dating- determination of absolute ages of rocks and fossils through calculations based on a radioactive isotope's fixed rate of decay 11. Half-Life- time it takes for 50 percent of a radioactive isotope sample to decay 12. Continental Drift- motion of continents about Earth's surface on plates of crust floating on the hot mantle 13. Mass Extinction- episode of great species loss 14. Taxonomy- identification, naming, and classification of species 15. Binomial- two-part Latin name of a species 16. Phylogenetic Tree- branching diagram, suggesting evolutionary relationships, that classifies species into groups within groups 17. Convergent Evolution- process in which unrelated species from similar environments have adaptations that seem very similar 18. Analogous Structures- similarities among unrelated species that result from convergent evolution 19. Cladogram- phylogenetic tree constructed from a series of two-way branch points, suggesting ancestral relationships among species 20. Derived Character- homologous characteristic that unites organisms as a group