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D
- deposit feeding
- Feeding type of some bivalves during which organic particles are harvested (by either the siphons or palps) from the surface or near-surface sediments; see also suspension feeder.
- developmental biology
- The study of how a multicellular organism develops from its early immature forms (zygote, larva, embryo, etc.) into an adult.
- dinoflagellates
- Chiefly marine, planktonic, usually solitary phytoflagellates (which have many characteristics in common with algae) that include luminescent forms, forms important in marine food webs, and forms causing red tides.
- directional selection
- A type of selection that removes individuals from one end of a phenotypic distribution and thus causes a shift in the distribution.
- discrete variation
- Variation within a limited number of categories (e.g., gender — male or female).
- disruptive selection
- A type of selection that removes individuals from the center of a phenotypic distribution and thus causes the distribution to become bimodal.
- diversity
- The variety of species in a sample, community, or area.