Relationships
The place in which a species lives.
Habitat
The shape of a remnant of a living thing (imprints, bodies, reliefs, waste products) that has been preserved or replaced by stone over a very long period of time through processes like mineral replacement.
True Fossil
The environment (surroundings) in which something is found.
Context
Simple scientific systems that are used to help identify and classify organisms by relying on a series of questions or statements.
Dichotomous Keys
Aristotle
Occurs when one species evolves or diverges into one or more species.
Speciation
The collection of all of the fossils that have ever been found arranged in order based on how old they are.
Fossil Record
An event in which the majority (50-75%) of the species on Earth go extinct in a relatively short period of geologic time (less than 3 million years).
Mass Extinction
A physical feature found in different species that share a common ancestor. These are the result of shared genetics. For example, the shared characteristics of Ida and humans.
Homologous
Aristotle create this framework that organized organisms based on how complex they were.
The Great Chain of Being
Name three ways that populations may become separated?
Rafting, migration, mountains, deserts (desertification), deforestation, road and rail construction, pollution, habitat fragmentation or loss.
Name three possible reasons for mass extinction and provide a definition.
1. Climate 2. Weather 3. Habitat 4. Food Chain
A genetically inherited physical trait whose function in the body has been reduced or eliminated, but once was useful to an ancestor species. In other words, these structures are remnants of past structures in previous generations that once were used for survival and now no longer serve a purpose. Examples: wings on flightless birds and eyes on animals that are blind who live in darkness.
Vestigal Structures
A Swedish plant scientist who lived during the 1700s and created a new, more accurate, and advanced system of classifying life. He is considered the "Father of Modern Taxonomy."
Carl Linnaeus
How many species are there on Earth today?
8 million
The number of years ago that Darwininius masillae lived.
~47 million years
The initial state of development for all multi-cellular life in which a cluster of cells rapidly divides into a larger and more complex group of cells before birth or hatching.
Embryo
The classification system that organized organisms based on physical similarities (genetic similarities), from broad to specific.
Linnean System
The study of naming living things and placing them into categories based on their characteristics.
Taxonomy
What does the extensive fossil record allow us to do with the study of evolution?
What is the name used to describe the most devastating mass extinction in all of Earth's history? This happened ~250 million years ago and resulted in the extinction of ~95% of life on Earth. The cause is debated, but scientist believe it was probably due to a a large astroid or volcanic activity.
The Great Dying
What are the two types of dating (figuring out how old an object is) and their definitions.
1. Relative Dating - Determines if an object or stratum is older or younger than another object or stratum based on their location in a column of rock or soil.
2. Absolute Dating - Determines the exact or estimated (numbered) age of an object or stratum.
Name the 8 categories in the Linnean system.
1. Domain 2. Kingdom 3. Phylum 4. Class 5. Order 6. Family 7. Genus 8. Species