Skip to main content
Back

Adaptive Radiation definitions

Control buttons has been changed to "navigation" mode.
1/15
  • Adaptive Radiation
    Evolutionary process where a single lineage rapidly diversifies into many species, often filling new ecological niches after major events.
  • Ecological Niche
    A specific role or position an organism occupies in its environment, including its habitat, resources, and interactions.
  • Mass Extinction
    A widespread and rapid decrease in biodiversity, clearing ecological niches and enabling bursts of diversification.
  • Speciation
    The formation of new and distinct species from a single ancestral lineage, often following ecological opportunities.
  • Evolutionary Innovation
    A novel trait or set of traits that increases fitness, allowing organisms to exploit new niches and outcompete others.
  • Angiosperm
    A group of flowering plants with seeds enclosed in fruit, enabling wide dispersal and dominance over other plant groups.
  • Cambrian Explosion
    A period about 530 million years ago marked by the rapid emergence of most major animal groups with complex body plans.
  • Phylum
    A major taxonomic group below kingdom, representing large evolutionary branches such as chordates, mollusks, and arthropods.
  • Paleozoic Era
    A geologic era beginning with the Cambrian, characterized by the emergence and diversification of complex animal life.
  • Gene Regulation
    Control of when, where, and how much genes are expressed, often driving rapid evolutionary changes in development.
  • Homeotic Gene
    A regulatory gene that determines the organization and identity of body parts during development, influencing major structural changes.
  • Hox Gene
    A subset of homeotic genes controlling animal body plans along the head-to-tail axis, crucial for complex body structures.
  • Heterochrony
    Evolutionary changes in the timing or rate of developmental events, leading to significant differences in organismal form.
  • Homology
    Similarity in structures among different species due to shared ancestry, often modified by changes in developmental regulation.
  • Trilobite
    An extinct marine arthropod from the Cambrian with hard bodies and some of the earliest known eyes in the fossil record.