Term | Definition |
fossil record | the sum total of all discovered fossils |
Where are most fossils found? | in sedimentary rock |
fossils | the remains of once living creatures |
What kind of organisms are the majority of fossils found on this planet? | hard-shelled organisms and fish |
Based on fossil evidence, we can conclude that organisms that survived throughout history,___ | experience very little change. |
What are the differences between mammoths and elephants? | Mammoth has lots of hair, large more curved tusks, and its back is shaped different. |
extinct | a term applied to a species that was once living but now is not |
Why are most fossils not detailed enough to draw a reliable picture of them? | Only the hard parts of an organism are fossilized. The soft parts only form as carbonized fossils, which only give some details. |
amber | a fossilized tree resin |
resin | thick, slow flowing liquid produced by plants and hardens into a solid |
For the past 400 years, how many plants and animals have gone extinct? | little more that 1,100 species |
trilobites | found in the layers above the great unconformity: assumed to be extinct creatures that lived in water, plowing through the mud looking for food, with a hard covered shell exoskeleton |
placoderms | strange looking fish that are also assumed to be extinct. Have bony plates covering their heads |
reptiles | cold blooded, scaly skin creatures |
amphibians | creatures that live in both water and land; frogs, salamanders, etc. |
fossils found in one layer of stratified rock can be considerably different from______ | the fossils found in another layer of stratified rock. |
casts | impression made from a mold of an object or organism |
mold | usually made when a creature's remains disintegrate and the surrounding rocks retain the original shape |
petrification | the conversion of organic material into rock |
when a plant or animal dies, what is the most likely thing that will happen to its remains? | Its body will begin disintegrating and it will deteriorate into the ground. |
Which happens first...a mold or cast? | mold |
What are the general features of a Fossil Record? | Fossils are found in sedimentary rock so most fossils were laid down by water, the majority of fossil record is made of clams, many fossils we find are still alive today, and fossils found in stratified layers can be very different. |
The present is the key to the _____. | past |
Catastrophists | Believe most of geology seen today was caused by sudden, major events,occurred in the past, and will not be repeated. |
Uniformitarians | Believe that geology occurred slowly over millions of years. |