Brief Definitions of Terms Used to Describe Evolutionary Patterns

and Processes
Evolutionary trade-of:
Balance between the evolutionary advantages, in terms of increased reproduction,
and evolutionary disadvantages, in terms of decreased reproduction, conferred to
an organism by a particular trait in a particular environment. The extent to which a
trait increases, decreases, or does not affect the relative fitness of individuals with
that trait determines the extent to which the traits frequency in a population
increases, decreases, or remains unchanged over multiple generations. Because the
same trait sometimes confers a net advantage in some environments or locations
and a net disadvantage in others, trade-offs sometimes produce different results in
different populations of the same species.
Evolutionary constraints:
The limitations on the amounts and types of evolutionary change that can occur in
a particular lineage over a particular period of time, determined by the structures,
developmental pathways, biochemical pathways, ecological adaptations, and
relationships with other organisms that are present in the lineage at the beginning
of that time period.
Evolutionary modifications of a structure:
Changes in the morphology and functions of a structure due to natural selection.
Homologous structures in two or more diferent species:
Structures that evolved from the same ancestral structure in the common ancestor
of the species; they may or may not have the same function in the extant species.
Analogous structures in two or more diferent species:
Structures that have the same function but that gained that function independently
in the course of evolution. Note that structures can be homologous at one level but
analogous at another. Wings of bats and wings of birds are homologous as
forelimbs but analogous as wings; wings of vertebrates and insects are analogous
as wings and not homologous in any sense.
Convergent evolution:
Structures or entire organisms evolve to have very similar morphologies and/or
functions independently from distantly related ancestors that do not share these
similarities.
Parallel evolution:
The same evolutionary change occurs independently in multiple closely related
species.
Adaptive radiation:
An ancestral species evolves and diversifies into multiple species adapted to a
diversity of ecological niches; often accompanied by significant phenotypic
diversity. (Can be thought of as the reverse of convergent evolution, in which
distantly related species evolve to have very similar phenotypes.)
Microevolution:
Evolutionary processes at the species level and below, due to changes in trait
frequency within and/or between populations.

Macroevolution:
Evolutionary processes above the species level.