Question | Answer |
eons | largest interval units |
era | smaller than an eon, includes several periods. |
periods | most common unit of geologic time |
epoch | often corresponds to a stratigraphic series |
ages | usually lasts between 5-10 million years |
Best time division for evolutions of life over time. | ages |
chrons | smallest subdivision of geologic time |
eons | include several eras |
eons | hundreds of millions or billions of years |
eras | includes 6-7 periods |
periods | one subdivision of an era, 30-80 million years |
epochs | used mainly in Cenozoic Era |
Archean Eon | 4.6-2.5 BYA |
herbivore | an animal that depends directly on plants as a source of nutrients |
omnivores | feed on plants and animals (ex: humans)primary |
carnivore | scavengers or preditors - any animal that depends on other animals (living or dead) for nutrients. secondary consumers |
secondary consumer | feed on primary consumers |
detritivores | consume detritus: waste products or bits of dead tissue. |
primary detritivore | feed directly on detritus |
secondary detritivore | feed on primary detritivores |
saprophytes | an organism, especially a fungus or bacterium, that grows on and derives its nourishment from dead or decaying organic matter |
parasites | an organism that lives in or on another organism (it's host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense. |
parasites | anthrapods such as lice, ticks, mites, and many insects infesting plants. |
phagotroph | an organism that obtains nutrients through the ingestion of solid organic matter. |
phagocytosis | The ingestion of bacteria or other material by phagocytes and ameboid protozoans |
nectavore | animals who feed on nectar |
browser | able to eat woody material (ex: deer, elephants) most herbivorous dinosaurs were probably browsers. |
grazers | on land, grazers are animals able to ingest grasses and soft plants (ex: cattle); in the marine environment, grazers scrape or otherwise remove plants or microorganisms from hard surfaces (ex: gastropods) |
suspension feeder | bottom feeders or otherwise sessile organisms able to strain out microorganisms or edible debris from the water around the organism (ex: oyster) |
filter feeder | free-swimming organisms that depend on filtering microorganisms or edible debris from the water around the organism (ex: whale) |
deposit feeder | able to strain microorganism or edible debris from sediment ingested by the organism; the organism "eats" sediment and removes useful organic matter (ex: earthworms) |
arboreal | living in trees |
aerial | living in the air most of the time (ex: birds) |
amphibious | able to live successfully either in water or on land, although most amphibians must return to water frequently, or at least to reproduce |
terrestrial | living on the land surface (ex: most mammals) |
subterranean | spending all or most of the time under the surface (ex: moles) |
benthonic | living on or in the materials making up the bottom of a body of water |
epifauna | living on the actual bottom surface (ex: gastropods and craps) |
infauna | living under the actual bottom surface (ex: worms) |
vagrant | able to move freely on or within the bottom sediments (ie: crabs) |
sessile | attached or otherwise unable to move (ex: corals) |
nektonic | strong swimmers able to move freely and not needing to depend on currents (ex: fish) |
planktonic | organisms that either float or swim so poorly that they are at the mercy of water currents. |
phytoplankton | plants and plantlike organisms (ex: algae and diatoms) |
zooplankton | animal larvae, protozoans, etc. |
bathymetry | (water depth) includes a number of well-defined biologic zones |
pelagic | living within the water column |
neritic | living in shallow water near shore |
oceanic | living in the deep oceanic water depths |
littoral | in or around the edges of the sea |
supralittoral | living on the beaches or water's edge |
sublittoral | living seaward from the beach, generally considered the continental shelf area |
bathyal | beyond the edge of the continental shelf - includes the continental slope, but not the abyssal plain. |
hadal | the very deepest parts of the oceans (ex: bottoms of the deep oceanic trenches) |
sub-atomics | nucleus of an atom: proton/neutron/electron |
atoms | smallest particle of an element that has all the properties of that element large samples of one kind of atoms are called elements |
elements | a group of the same kind of atoms/bond with other elements to for chemical compounds |
molecules | two or more DIFFERENT atoms that have covalently bonded smallest component of a compound that has all the properties of the compound |
compounds | group of the same kind of molecules that have |
organelle | structures in cells that carry out distinct functions |
cell | (life begins) the smallest level at which all functions of life can be carried out by organisms |
tissue | a distinct area of an organ formed from a mass of similar cells and cell products |
organ | a structure composed of two or more tissue types that work together to carry out a particular function |
organ system | a group of inter-connected organs that have a specific collective function |
organism | a living entity that can act or function independently |
population | all organisms of the same species (plant, animal, or micro-organism) that coexist and interact (in time and space) |
community | all populations of different species (plants, animals, and micro-organisms) that coexist and interact (in time and space) |
ecosystem | communities interacting with their abiotic environment |
biome | ecosystems of the world characterized by similar dominant flora, fauna, and climate. |