173 results found

Search Results for: traits

Traits

Traits Definition "Trait" is a rather well-known word in the English language. What does trait mean? A trait is defined... Read More

Inherited traits

What are Inherited Traits? The characteristics or traits that are passed from parents to offspring are known as inherited... Read More

Family traits

When one thinks of family, they often think of persons who are blood-related to each other as parents to their children and... Read More

Natural selection

Natural Selection Definition What is natural selection in biology? Natural selection is defined as a process in nature... Read More

Law of Segregation

Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance The father of genetics, Gregor Mendel, reported his findings in 1860 that initially were... Read More

Pleiotropy

Pleiotropy Definition When one single gene starts affecting multiple traits of living organisms, this phenomenon is known... Read More

Polygenic inheritance

Polygenic inheritance refers to the kind of inheritance in which the trait is produced from the cumulative effects of many... Read More

Incomplete dominance

Incomplete Dominance Definition After Gregor Mendel discovered inheritance laws, the term ''incomplete dominance'' was... Read More

Darwinian fitness

Darwinian Fitness Definition Darwinian fitness refers to the measure of an individual organism's or genotype's reproductive... Read More

Sex-linked trait

Definition of Sex-Linked Traits A sex-linked trait is an observable characteristic of an organism that is influenced by the... Read More

Phenotype

Phenotype refers to the observable characteristics of an organism as a multifactorial consequence of genetic traits and... Read More

Dichotomous

Several English words are widely used across different fields of Science. One such term is dichotomous. We often use this... Read More

Independent Assortment

Independent Assortment Definition Independent assortment refers to the alleles or genes that sort into the newly formed... Read More

Dominant

Dominant Definition The word dominant or dominant trait is commonly used in biology. The general meaning of dominant is to... Read More

Polygenic trait

Polygenic Trait Definition Polygenic trait refers to a trait that is controlled by multiple non-allelic genes. These genes... Read More

Complete dominance

Complete Dominance Definition Genetics is the study of how traits are inherited by organisms and in what ways these... Read More

Phenotypic ratio

Phenotypic Ratio Definition How would one define phenotypic ratio? The correlation between the amount of offspring that... Read More

Evolution

Evolution Definition Evolution is defined as a change in the genetic composition of a population over successive... Read More

Sexual selection

What is Sexual Selection? The definition of sexual selection is very interesting in biological terms. The sexual selection... Read More

Polymorphism

Polymorphism Definition The occurrence of two or more different forms or morphs in the population of a species is referred... Read More

A Look Into Natural Selection and its Mechanisms

Charles Darwin is credited with outlining the fundamentals of evolution. He was a smart and eager pupil and protégé, and... Read More

Characteristic

Characteristics Definition We can define characteristics as qualities or features that describe the distinctive nature or... Read More

Progeny

Progeny Definition Progeny means an unmodified descendant from the material, such as a cell from a cell or an organism from... Read More

Specimen

A specimen is a meticulously selected representative of a group that undergoes rigorous research studies to derive some... Read More

Gene

A gene is the fundamental, physical, and functional unit of heredity. The genes make up the sequences of DNA (genotypes).... Read More

Homology

In biology, homology refers to similarities caused by shared ancestry between two structures or genes from distinct species.... Read More

Divergent evolution

Divergent Evolution Definition Divergent evolution refers to the process by which interbreeding species diverged into two... Read More

Adaptive evolution

Definition noun A kind of evolution that involves evolutionary changes that are adaptive to a particular... Read More

Adaptation

Adaptation Definition In biology and ecology, adaptation refers to the process of adjusting behavior, physiology, or... Read More

Disruptive Selection

An evolutionary process known as disruptive selection (or disruptive natural selection) causes a population to become... Read More

Selective Breeding

Reviewed by: Mary Anne Clark, PhD Thousands of years before Darwin proposed evolution by natural selection and... Read More

Multiple alleles

Alleles are the pairs of genes occupying a specific spot called locus on a chromosome. Typically, there are only two alleles... Read More

Genotype

Genotype Definition Genotype is the genetic makeup of an individual cell or organism that determines or contributes to its... Read More

Homozygous

Homozygous Definition Diploid organisms that have a genotype of identical alleles for a trait or phenotype at a specific... Read More

Sex linkage

Definition noun, plural: sex linkages A condition in which a trait or a phenotype manifesting apparently more frequently in... Read More

Fetus

The science of Embryology and Fetal development has fascinated mankind since time immemorial. After the embryonic stage, the... Read More

Synapomorphy

Definition noun, plural: synapomorphies An advance character state shared among two or more taxa inherited from the most... Read More

Neutral mutation

Neutral Mutation Definition What is a neutral mutation? Neutral mutations are the alterations in the DNA that are... Read More

Allele

Allele Definition What are alleles? An allele is a term coined to describe a specific copy of a gene. Genes, the DNA... Read More

Genetics

Genetics Definition noun (1) The study of the patterns of inheritance of specific traits, relating to genes and genetic... Read More