Fossils
A person who studies the structure of ancient organisms, their environment, and the way they lived.
What is a paleontologist.
Earth's "first" atmosphere just after the Hadean period had little of this gas
What is Oxygen
The Pre-cambrian period had mostly these types of organisms
What are single celled prokaryotes
Climate change played a role, at least75% of all species died and empty niches allowed other species to dominate
What did all major mass extinction events have in common?
This is known as the age of dinosaurs
The Jurassic period
Why are so few fossils found?
Fossils form only under highly specific and rare conditions, such as rapid burial of organisms in sediments. Organism need hard parts to fossilize as well.
This experiment created the building blocks for life in the lab.
What is the Miller-Urey experiment
The Cambrian period begins the introduction of these types of life forms.
What are organisms with varied and hard body parts
Laurasia and Gondwana are an example
What is an example of a supercontinent
The end of the Cretaceous period was punctuated by this.
What is a meteorite strike and mas extinction.
Fossils are measured with this technique in order to have accurate dates for when organisms existed.
What is radiometric dating
This major event in Earth's history occurred so that aquatic animals could decrease pressure from competition and predation
This type of animals was on the Earth for almost 300 million years, but finally died during the Permian Mass Extinction event...
What are trilobites
Extinction events are occurring much faster then the normal background rate
What is evidence of the 6th major mass extinction event?
After the extinction of the dinosaurs and during the Cenozoic era we see the rise and adaptive radiation of many of this type of life form.
What are mammals
A fossil that existed over a certain geographic range and relatively short time span, that can help identify a rock layers place in geologic history.
What is index fossil.
In order for oxygen to develop in the atmosphere what had to happen first?
Photosynthetic bacteria evolved.
Name the types of organisms that expand and evolve during the Silurian period
What are Jawless fishes and the first land plants.
Uranium-238
What is isotope used to date the Earth?
This extinction event paved the way for dinosaurs to dominate the Earth for hundreds of millions of years
What is the Triassic-Jurassic
Layers of algae like organisms that leave behind mound like structures....
What are Stromatilites
This is the process that created early oceans
What is outgasing
Mitochondria and chloroplast are associated with this theory
What is the theory of endosymbiosis?
The accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere led to this...
What is a major mass extinction event?
A severe ice age led to sea level falling by 100m, wiping out 60-70% of all species which were prominently ocean dwellers at the time.
What is the End-Ordovician