Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Coevolution Definition In the context of evolutionary biology, coevolution refers to the evolution of at least two species, which occurs in a mutually dependent manner. Coevolution was first described in the context of insects and flowering plants, and has since been applied to major evolutionary events, including sexual reproduction, infectious disease, and ecological communities. Coevolution…

Coenzyme Definition A coenzyme is an organic non-protein compound that binds with an enzyme to catalyze a reaction. Coenzymes are often broadly called cofactors, but they are chemically different. A coenzyme cannot function alone, but can be reused several times when paired with an enzyme. Functions of Coenzymes An enzyme without a coenzyme is called…

Coelom Definition The coelom is a body cavity found in metazoans (animals that develop from an embryo with three tissue layers: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm). The cells in each tissue layer become differentiated during development, becoming different tissues, organs, and a digestive tract. Derived from the mesoderm, the coelom is found between the intestinal canal…

Definition Codominance occurs when two different versions – a.k.a. “alleles” – of the same gene are present in a living thing, and both alleles are expressed separately in different parts of an organism. Instead of one trait being dominant over the other, both traits appear. Overview Codominance is easy to spot in plants and animals…

Cloaca Definition A cloaca is an orifice through which urine and feces are eliminated in birds, reptiles, amphibians, and a few branches of the mammal family tree. It also serves a reproductive function like the vagina in females of these species, and also performs the function of sperm ejaculation in males of some species. The…

Cleavage Furrow Definition A cleavage furrow is an indentation that appears in a cell’s surface when the cell is preparing to divide. It marks the beginning of the cell’s “pinching” its cell membrane and cytoplasm down the middle. Eventually, the cell will pinch itself completely in two, forming two daughter cells. This furrow is created…

Cladogram Definition A cladogram is a diagram used to represent a hypothetical relationship between groups of animals, called a phylogeny. A cladogram is used by a scientist studying phylogenetic systematics to visualize the groups of organisms being compared, how they are related, and their most common ancestors. A cladogram can be simple, comparing only two or three groups…

Cladistics Definition Cladistics refers to a biological classification system that involves the categorization of organisms based on shared traits. Organisms are typically grouped by how closely related they are and thus, cladistics can be used to trace ancestry back to shared common ancestors and the evolution of various characteristics. Although the classification of organisms began…

What is a Clade? A clade consists of an organism and all of its descendants. For example, the shared ancestor of apes and all of that species descendant species would comprise a “clade.” The term “clade” comes from the Greek “klados,” for “branch.” It’s useful to think of a clade as being one “branch” on…

The circulatory system is a network of blood vessels. Its main organ is the heart, pumping blood around the body. Running through these vessels are red blood cells, which transport oxygen to other organs. The blood also transports nutrients and hormones throughout the body. The blood is pumped from the heart to the lungs, where…