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Vocab 15.2
Evidence of Evolution
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Fossil | The race or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock |
Superposition | A principle that states that younger rocks lie above older rocks if the layers have not been disturbed |
Relative Age | The age of an object in relation to the ages of other objects |
Absolute Age | The numeric age of an object or event, often stated in years before the present, as established by an absolute-dating process, such as radiometric dating |
Biogeography | The study of the geographical distribution of living organisms and fossils on Earth |
Homologous Structures | Anatomical structures in one species that, compared to other anatomical structures in another species, originated from a single anatomical structure in a common ancestor of the 2 species |
Analogous Structure | An anatomical structure in one species that is similar in function and appearance, but not in evolutionary origin, to another anatomical structure in another species |
Vestigial Structure | A structure in an organism that is reduced in size and function and that may have been complete and functional in the organism's ancestors |
Phylogeny | The evolutionary history of a species or taxonomic group; the relationships by ancestry among species or taxonomic groups |