| Question | Answer |
| adaptation | a characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment |
| species | a group of organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring |
| evolution | the process by which populations accumulate inherited changes over time |
| fossil | solidified remains or imprints of a once-living organism |
| fossil record | fossils that provide a historical sequence of life |
| vestigial structure | the remnant of a once-useful anatomical structure |
| trait | a quality that can be passed on from 1 generation to another |
| selective breeding | breeding of organisms that have a certain desired trait |
| natural selection | process by which organisms with favorable traits survive and reproduce at a higher rate thatn organisms without the favorable traits |
| generation time | period between the birth of 1 generation and the birth of the next generation |
| extinct | a species of organism that has died out completely |
| What are the 4 geological time eras? | Precambrian Time, Paleozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, and the Cenozoic Era |
| What are the 3 ways you can compare organisms? | skeletal structures, DNA and the embyonic structures |
| Who made observations that later became the foundations for his theory of evolution by natural selection? | Charles Darwin |
| What are the 4 steps to Natural Selection? | Overproduction, Genetic Variation, Struggle to Survive, and Successful Reproduction |
| What are the 3 steps to the formation of a new species? | seperation, adaptation, and division |
| relative dating | ordering fossils to estimate their age |
| absolute dating | the method of measuring the ratio of unstable atoms to stable atoms, which help determine the approximate age of a fossil |
| geologic time scale | the calendar scientists use to outline the history of life on earth |
| Pangaea | a single large landmass of the earth |
| How old is our earth? | 4.6 Billion years old |
| What is your geologic time address? | Phanerozoic, cenozoic, quaternary, holocene |
| Naturalist | Is a person who studies plants and animals by observing. |
| Variation | Is a slight difference in an inherited trail of individual members of a species. |
| Camouflage | Wants to not be seen, blends in with environment |
| Mimicry | Wants to be seen, resemblance of one species to another species. |
| Comparative anatomy | The study of similarities and differences among structures of living species. |
| Homologous structures | Body parts of organisms that are similar in structure and position but different in function. |
| analogous structures | Body parts that perform a similar function but differ in structure. |
| Vestigial structures | body parts that have lost their original function through evolution. |
| Embryology | The science of the development of embryos from fertilization to birth. |
| When compared with other fossils, what structure indicates the ancestor of whales used to walk on land? | Vestigial pelvic bones |
| What causes variations to arise in a population? | random mutations in genes. |
| What method can scientists use to determine when a fossil appeared on earth? | relative-age dating |