Science / Biology Glossary

Complete Dominance: The type of inheritance in which both heterozygotes and dominant homozygotes have the same phenotype.

Complete Flower: Condition in which all flower parts are present. Example: lily.

Compound: A substance formed by two or more elements combined in a fixed ratio.

Compound Leaf: A leaf in which the blade forms small leaflets. Compound leaves that have several small leaflets originating from a central axis are termed pinnately compound; example: rose. Compound leaves . . . View Full Definition

Compression: Type of fossilization in which the fossil is flattened (compressed)m by the weight of overlying sediment.

Conditioned Response: The response to a stimulus that occurs when an animal has learned to associate the stimulus with a certain positive or negative effect.

Cones: Light receptors in primates eyes that operate in bright light; provide color vision and visual acuity.

Conifers: Group of gymnosperms that reproduce by cones and have needle-like leaves (in general); includes the pines.

Connective Tissue: Animal tissue composed of cells embedded in a matrix (gel, elastic fibers, liquid, or inorganic minerals). Includes loose, dense, and fibrous connective tissues that provide strength (bone, . . . View Full Definition

Consumers: The higher levels in a food pyramid; consist of primary consumers, which feed on the producers, and secondary consumers, which feed on the primary consumers.

Continuous Variation: Occurs when the phenotypes of traits controlled by a single gene cannot be sorted into two distinct phenotypic classes, but rather fall into a series of overlapping classes.

Contractile Vacuole: Organelle in many eukaryotes that acts as a bilge pump in the active transport of excess water from the cell.

Contrast: In relation to microscopes, the ability to distinguish different densities of structures.

Convergent Evolution: The development of similar structures in distantly related organisms as a result of adapting to similar environments and/or strategies of life. Example: wings of birds and insects, the body . . . View Full Definition

Convergent Plate Boundary: The boundary between two plates that are moving toward one another.

Coprolites: Fossilized feces.

Cork: The outer layer of the bark in woody plants; composed of dead cells.

Cork Cambium: A layer of lateral meristematic tissue between the cork and the phloem in the bark of woody plants.

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