Vocabulary
species
the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring. Scientists use taxonomic classification to classify organisms (see "About" to learn more). (axolotls are of the species Ambystoma mexicanum)
speciation
the process in which a species evolves far enough to become anatomically distinct from its original form (Darwin's finches evolved seperate beak types to suit the food on the islands where they lived)
genetic drift
the process in which chance events cause a major variation in a population's gene pool (if one family of axolotls with a unique allele was wiped out at the same time due to a natural disaster, that allele would no
longer be present in the population)
founder effect
the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a small number of individuals (if a captive population of axolotls is started, it very well may lack the genetic diversity of the wider axolotl population)
Hardy-Weinberg principle
a principle that states that the allele frequency in a population seperated from evolutionary influences will remain constant (the expansion of Mexico City, as discussed in "Conservation", is most likely preventing the wild axolotl population from achieving genetic equilibrium)
sexual selection
the idea of certain traits becoming more prevalent in a population because of their attractiveness to those choosing a mate (axolotls' ability to produce pheromones may have been curated by sexual selection)
reproductive isolation
the process of parts of a population being seperated, allowing speciation to occur (this is how the speciation in the case of Darwin's finches occured)