Skip to main content
Back

Evolution of Complexity definitions

Control buttons has been changed to "navigation" mode.
1/15
  • Complex Trait
    A characteristic composed of multiple interacting parts, arising through gradual modifications that each provide functional advantages.
  • Exaptation
    A process where an existing structure acquires a new function, distinct from its original evolutionary role.
  • Adaptation
    A feature shaped by natural selection that enhances survival or reproduction in a specific environment.
  • Feather
    A structure in birds, originally evolved for insulation, later enabling flight through modifications.
  • Flight Feather
    A specialized structure in birds essential for powered flight, derived from earlier forms used for warmth.
  • Natural Selection
    A mechanism where advantageous traits become more common in a population over generations.
  • Microraptor
    A small dinosaur with gliding adaptations, illustrating the evolutionary transition from insulation to flight.
  • Vertebrate Eye
    A complex, camera-like organ in animals with backbones, capable of image formation and focus adjustment.
  • Eye Spot
    A simple light-detecting structure, providing basic information about light presence to early organisms.
  • Eye Cup
    A curved, three-dimensional light-sensitive structure that allows detection of light direction.
  • Pinhole Eye
    A structure with a small opening that forms a basic image by focusing incoming light, similar to a camera obscura.
  • Lens
    A transparent structure in the eye that focuses light to form clear images on sensory cells.
  • Iris
    A muscular ring in the eye that regulates the amount of light entering by adjusting the pupil size.
  • Mollusk Eye
    A camera-like visual organ in mollusks, independently evolved and structurally similar to vertebrate eyes.
  • Structure-Function Relationship
    The principle that the form of a biological feature is closely linked to its role or utility in an organism.