A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce.
What is an adaptation?
100
Similar structures that related species have inherited from a common ancestor.
What are homologous structures?
100
A fossil that is formed when minerals replace all or part of an organism, turning it into rock.
What is a petrified fossil?
100
Change over time.
What is evolution?
200
The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species.
What is natural selection?
200
Darwin's famous 5-year expedition was onboard this ship.
What is the HMS Beagle?
200
Can form when a group of individuals remains isolated from the rest of its species long enough to evolve different traits.
What is a new species?
200
A type of fossil that forms when an empty cavity becomes filled in with minerals that harden.
What is a cast?
200
A type of fossil formed when a shell or other hard part of an organism dissolves, leaving an emtpy space or cavity in the shape of the part.
What is a mold?
300
Differences between individuals of the same species.
What are variations?
300
Darwin compared the organisms on the mainland of South America to those found on this island chain.
What are the Galapagos Islands?
300
Natural selection is often called this.
What is "survival of the fittest"?
300
Also known as the Age of Reptiles?
What is the Mesozoic Era?
300
Also known as the Age of Mammals.
What is the Cenozoic Era?
400
A well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations.
What is a scientific theory?
400
A diagram that shows how scientists think different groups of organisms are related.
What is a branching tree?
400
Major difference that Darwin noticed among the Galapagos finches.
What is beak structure (size and shape)?
400
The time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of radioactive element to decay.
What is a half-life?
400
Theory that proposes that evolution occurs slowly but steadily.
What is gradualism?
500
The three major factors that cause natural selection.
What are overproduction, competition, and inherited variations?
500
Two factors that produce variations in a species.
What are mutations and the shuffling of alleles during meiosis.
500
Four types of evidence that support the theory of evolution.
What are fossils, patterns of early development, similar body structures, and DNA?
500
A technique that scientists use to determine the actual age of fossils.
What is radioactive dating?
500
A fossil type that provides evidence of an organism's activity.