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Clues about Evolutio
Question | Answer |
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Fossils | Fossils are the remains, an imprint, or a trace of life from an earlier time. (Similar features in fossils and either existing creatures or fossilizd creatures, show evolutionary relationships.) There are five types of Fossils. |
Mineralized Fossils | A piece of wood or bone replaced by minerals. |
Imprint Fossils | An imprint of a leaf, feather, or organism in rock. |
Cast Fossils | A cast made of minerals that filled in hollows of an animal track, Mollusk shell, or other parts of an organism. |
Frozen Fossils | An organism frozen in ice. |
Fossils in Amber | An insect or other organism trapped in plant resin. |
Embryology | The study of embryos and their development. Specifically, scientists look at similarities and differences in embryos of different species. Similarities in embryos show evolutionary relationships. The closer the similarity, the closer the relationship. |
Homologous Structures | Homologous Structures are the body parts with differing functions but, surprisingly, similar structures. These similar structures indicate a similar origin. The difference in function is what makes their similarity so surprising. |
DNA | Scientists compare DNA from living creatures to find similarities. Similarities in DNA show evolutionary relationships. The closer the similarity between DNA of two species, the closer their evolutionary relationship. |
Vestigial Structures | Body parts that have little or no function and are usually greatly reduced in size. These vestigial structures show a relationship to creatures that had functioning versions of these functions |