Variation is now known to be in the genetic makeup of populations.

Genetic drift is the exchange of genes among populations through interbreeding.

Mitosis is the process of cell division in which gametes are produced.

The idea of evolution is simple: species of living things change over time and under the right circumstances this change can produce new species of living organisms from existing ones.

DNA carries the genetic code that is found in the nucleus of cells, on long strands called chromosomes.

Fitness is the relative adaptiveness of an individual organism measured ultimately by reproductive success.

Natural selection works on the variation that is known to be in the genetic makeup of populations.

Gene flow is the exchange of genes among populations though interbreeding.

A scientist uses "The Scientific Method" which answers questions according to a special set of rules that involves a cycle of steps.

Adaptation is the state in which an organism is adjusted to and can survive in its environment through its physical traits and behaviors.

Phenotype is the chemical or physical results of genetic code.

Mendelian genetics showed that inheritance does not involve the blending of substances but, rather, are particulate.

An allele is an alternative form of a gene (one member of a pair) that is located at a specific position on a specific chromosome.

The great Chain of being is the notion that there is an ideal, or essential, form of every natural entity and that the variations we see are largely inexact copies of the ideal.

Uniformitarianism is the idea that present-day geological processes (normal, every day uniform process) can also explain the history of the earth.

Though Darwin work with pea plants the basic laws of genetics were derived.

The genetic code is a set of instructions for the production (or synthesis) of proteins from amino acids.

Charles Darwin reasoned, some alleles are dominant and some are recessive.

Natural selection is the differential reproduction of individuals based on the relative adaptive value of their traits.

Individuals tend to find mates within their own breeding populations.

Ecological isolation probably explains the origin of hominids, the group to which our species belongs.

Microevolution is the branching of new species from existing species.

All life, through speciation and adaptive radiation, is descended from a single origin.

In hybrid sterility fertilization may occur, but the hybrid zygotes do not survive.

The complex process of environmental factors, is solely responsible for the final form and function of a living being.

Evolutionary change is at its most basic level genetic change.

Macroevolution is the continuous transformation of a unitary population through time.

Sexual behaviors that attract one sex to the other are called courtship behaviors.

Genetic drift is mistakes in the genetic mechanism that add new variation to a species' gene pool.

There is nothing that can change what genes code for, except a change in the code itself, such a change is called a mutation.

Primates of the family hominidae include: modern humans, earlier humans subspecies, and their direct human ancestors.

Functionally similar but evolutionary unrelated traits are known as analogies.

This adaptation, called bipedalism (exhibited by modern apes), is a form of locomotion that involves placing the backs of the middle joints of the fingers on the ground.

Paranthropus is known to have spread far out of Africa and adapted to a wide range of temperate, tropical, and cold environments throughout Europe and Asia.

Homo habilis "wise person" is a recent, separate species.

Based on the mitochondrial DNA evidence, Homo nenderthalensis is though to be a direct ancestor to modern humans.

The fossil record indicates that an increase in brain size was the first hominid trait to evolve.

A taxonomy is a classification system based on similarities and differences.

Australopithecus had overall skeletal proportions much like those of modern humans.

Radiocarbon dating is a relative dating technique.

The early African hominids radiated into three distinct groups, often classified as separate genera Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo.

Humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos have all adapted to different environmental niches.

Homo habilis is the fossil find commonly referred to as "Lucy".