- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 30456
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
The degree to which a characteristic helps an organism to survive and reproduce, or affords greater fitness in its environment.
Industry:Natural environment
The study of the interrelationships between organisms and their environment, including the biotic and abiotic components.
Industry:Natural environment
A breathing gas mixture for scuba divers that contains only oxygen and helium, used for deep diving to remove the narcotic effect of nitrogen.
Industry:Natural environment
A double stranded DNA (the double helix) always has an orientation or directionality. Because of this directionality, the nucleotides along one strand are heading in one direction (e.g. The 'ascending strand') and the others are heading the other (e.g. The 'descending strand'). For reasons of chemical nomenclature, the asymmetric termini of each strand are called the 5' and 3' ends (pronounced "five prime" and "three prime"). Nucleotide sequences are read by enzymes in the "5' to 3' direction". In a vertically oriented double helix, the 3' strand is said to be ascending while the 5' strand is said to be descending.
Industry:Natural environment
A little differentiated species evolved from a close common ancestor; a "twin" species. For example, pairs on either side of the Isthmus of Panama who are each other's closest relative and were probably one species before the sea level dropped.
Industry:Natural environment
A polyp that develops asexually on the skeletons of some coral species.
Industry:Natural environment
A species adapted for utilising variable, unpredictable or transient environments to obtain food.
Industry:Natural environment
A type of threat or reproductive behaviour exhibited by many species of fishes, in which two male fish align beside each other, spread their dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins, and intensify the coloration of their bodies. These threats are usually accompanied by tail beats and body quivering.
Industry:Natural environment
An incompletely or ineffectively developed structure which is greatly reduced from the original ancestral form and is no longer functional.
Industry:Natural environment
