Absorption - refers to the typical absorption of products by certain tissues. In the digestive system majority occurs in large intestine

 

Actualism - The theory that the same geological processes occurring in the present also occured in the past

 

Arenchyma – tissue composed of loosely packed parenchyma cells with large pores that are found in aquatic plants

 

Allele - Two or more alternate forms of a gene. The alleles are located at the same position on one of the pairs of homologous chromosomes.

 

Analogous Features - Structures similar in function but not in origin or anatomical structure

 

Angiosperm- a plant that has flowers and produces seeds enclosed within a carpel. The angiosperms are a large group and include herbaceous plants, shrubs, grasses, and most trees.

 

Anther- male reproductive part of plant.

 

Artificial Selection - The breeding of plants and animals to produce desirable traits

 

Bile - bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine

 

Bile salts - salts within bile that help emulsify lipids

 

Binomial Nomenclature - the system used to give each organism a unique two part scientific name, uses the genus and species

 

Carpel- female reproductive part of plant.

 

Catastrophism - Cuvier's theory that numerous global catastrophes in the past had repeatedly caused the extinction of species that were then replaced by newly created forms

 

Character - Heritable trait possessed by an organism

 

Chromatid – one half of the replicated ‘x-like’ structure that can be found throughout the stages of mitosis

 

Chromosome – thread-like structures located inside the nucleus. Made up of protein and a single DNA molecule

 

Cladistics - is taking characteristics (anatomical, physiological or genetic) that are shared by organisms and then putting a hypothesis of how they came to occur in a cladogram

 

Cladogram - A diagram, resulting from a cladistic analysis, which depicts a hypothetical branching sequence of lineages leading to the taxa under consideration

 

Cloning- process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually.

 

Codominance - A type of incomplete dominance when both dominant alleles are expressed at the same time.

 

Colon - is largest part of large intestine stores waste so that water as well as some inorganic salts, minerals and vitamins can be absorbed. There are several bacteria in the large intestine such as types of E.coli that can synthesize vitamins B and K. Cellulose is a carbohydrate that cannot be broken down by humans but provides bulk

 

Companion cell – small, nucleated phloem cell that is alwasy associated with a sieve tube element found in phloem

 

Dichotomous Key - a tool developed and used by scientists to identify unknown organisms

 

Digestion - is the breakdown of food into smaller components that can be more easily absorbed and assimilated by the body

 

Dihybrid Cross - A type of cross that involves two genes, each consisting of nonidentical alleles.

 

Dominant - Alleles of this type determine the expression of the genetic trait in offspring.

 

Elimination - Undigested food enters the colon where water is reabsorbed into the body and excess waste is eliminated from the anus.

 

Embryology - The study of the early pre-birth stages of an organism’s development

 

Enzyme - enzymes are proteins that increase the rate at which biochemical reactions occur

 

Equatorial plate – the central part of the dividing cell. Here, chromosomes move towards here during early stages of mitosis and meiosis.

 

Evolution - the process in which significant changes in the inheritable traits of a species occur over time

 

Fossilization - the process by which traces of past organisms become part of sedimentary rock layers

 

Fossils - any preserved remains or traces of an organism or its activity; many fossils are of such hardened body parts as bone

 

Gastric juice - is a digestive fluid, formed in the stomach.

 

Gene - A unit of heredity that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.

 

Genetic Variation - A process where genes of organisms within a population change

 

Genotype - The alleles an organism contains.

 

Guard Cell - one two kidney shapes cells that control the opening and closing of the stoma

 

Gymnosperms- a plant that has seeds unprotected by an ovary or fruit. Gymnosperms include the conifers, cycads, and ginkgo.

 

Haploid – half of the needed number of chromosomes for a species

 

Heterozygous - A genotype in which the alleles of a pair are different.

 

Homologous Features - Structures that share a common origin but may serve different functions in modern species

Homozygous - A genotype in which both alleles of a pair are the same.

 

Hybrid - Offspring that differ from their parents in one or more traits.

 

Hybridization - The mating between two different parents to produce offspring with desirable characteristics of both parents

 

Inbreeding - The process of when breeding is limited to a number of desired phenotypes

 

Incomplete Dominance - When two alleles are equally dominant and interact to form a new phenotype.

 

Ingestion - is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in the substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking

 

Law of independent assortment - If genes are located on separate chromosomes, they are inherited independently of each other.

 

Law of segregation - During gamete formation each member of the allelic pair separates from the other member to form the genetic constitution of the gamete.

 

Meiosis - type of cell division which ends in four daughter cells. Each of these daughter cells is a haploid of the original cell. This process only occurs in the sex cells of an organism.

 

Mesophyll – the photosynthetic middle layer of cells in the leaf of a terrestrial plant

 

Microvilli - are a microscopic projection on cell membrane that increases surface area

 

Mitosis- a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth.

 

Monohybrid Cross - A cross that involves one allele pair of contrasting traits.

 

Mucus - protein produced by a layer of epithelial cells that provide a protective coating It is alkaline in nature which is basic and protects lining of the stomach from both acid from HCl and pepsin from breaking down proteins of stomach lining

 

Mutation - A change in the nucleotide sequence of the genome of an organism, sometimes resulting in the appearance of a new character or trait no found in the parental type

 

Natural Selection - A process resulting in the survival of those individuals from a population of animals or plants that are best adapted to the changing environmental conditions

 

Nodes- Points of branching within a cladogram

 

Outgroup - A taxon used to help resolve the polarity of characters, and which is hypothesized to be less closely related to each of the taxa under consideration

 

Palaeontology - The scientific study of fossil remains

 

Petiole – the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the plant stem

 

Phenotype - The observable traits of an organism that arise because of the interaction between genes and the environment.

 

Phylogenetic tree – a diagram which visually shows the relationship between organisms through evolution

 

Phylogeny – the history of evolution of a species or group of organisms

 

Physical digestion - is the act of breaking down food using teeth, beaks or other structures in many animals as well as contractions of the stomach

 

Principle of parsimony -- Refers to a rule used to choose among possible cladograms, which states that the cladogram implying the least number of changes in character states is the best.

 

Plant Reproduction- Plant reproduction is the production of new individuals or offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from the parent or parents.

 

Pollination- process in which pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of seed plants, thereby enabling fertilization and reproduction through growth of the pollen tube and eventual release of sperm.

 

Punnett Square - A chart used by geneticists to show the possible combinations of alleles in offspring.

 

Recessive - Alleles of this type are overruled by dominant alleles, which determine the genetic trait.

 

Selective Breeding - The crossing of desired traits from parents to produce offspring that have the favoured traits.

 

Sieve cells – narrow pores in all their cell walls found in phloem

 

Sieve tube elements – contains pores in its side walls and a sieve plate at the end walls found in phloem

 

Somatic cells – any cell in the body except sex cells; they contain two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent.

 

Spermatophytes- a plant of a large division that comprises those that bear seeds, including the gymnosperms and angiosperms.

 

Sphincters - is an anatomical structure, a circular muscle that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological functioning

 

Stoma - opening in leaves through which gases pass in and out of the leaves

 

Subgroup – further classification beyond a taxa to split organisms that are not as related as once believed

 

Supergroup – further classification beyond a taxa to show relatedness between organisms

 

Synapsis – pairing of two homologous chromosomes. This process occurs during meiosis and allows matching-up of these pairs; this is where process such as crossing over can occur.

 

Taxa (singular: taxon) – are the seven different levels of classification used in taxonomy

 

Taxonomy - is the practice of classifying organisms, was created by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

 

Test Cross - A monohybrid cross that is used to identify the genotype of one of the parents by using the phenotypes of the offspring.

 

Theory of Endosymbiosis - A theory of to how the eukaryotes may have obtain their mitochondria and chloroplasts

 

Tracheid – long, cylindrical cell with tapered ends found in xylem

 

Trypsinogen - is the precursor form or zymogen of the pancreatic enzyme trypsin. It is found in pancreatic juice, along with amylase, lipase, and chymotrypsinogen

 

Ulcer - a lesion along the surface of an organ

 

Uniformitarianism - The theory that Earth's surface has always changed and continues to change through similar, uniform, and very gradual processes

 

Vestigial Features - Rudimentary and nonfunctioning structures that are homologous to fully functioning structures in closely related species

 

Vessel element – stacked end-to-end to form vessel tubes that run from root to shoot found in xylem

 

Villi - small finger-like projects that extend into the small intestine which increase surface area for absorption.

 

Zygote- fertilized egg.