What is the principle that states each layer of rock is younger than the layer below it?
The Law of Superposition
What is the term for a species that has completely died out?
Extinct
Which is more closely related to a whale - a fish, a bat, or a chicken?
A bat
Theory, based on scientific evidence, that describes how organisms change over time
Evolution
Comparing the age of something to the age of something else
Relative dating
Name a substance that can preserve an organism for the future
Mud, Sediment, Ice, Amber, Tar
Name a trait that we have as embryos that we lose as we develop
tail, gill slits, etc
A species from which two or more species evolved
Common Ancestor
The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms in a substance to decay into something else.
Half-Life
Term for when many species of organisms die off all at once.
Mass Extinction
Relatively new technology provides this BEST evidence for common ancestry
DNA evidence
An organism's body structure and its structural traits
Anatomy
Term for the exact age of something
Absolute age
When did the first single-celled organisms appear on Earth?
The Precambrian
This special type of fossil links two species by showing traits common to both groups
Transitional Fossil
The repetition of parts in an orderly fashion within an organism's body (bilateral, radial or none)
Symmetry
This method of finding absolute age involves comparing the amount of decayed substance to the amount of remaining substance in the rock.
Radiometric Dating
What is the term for a species that remains living today?
Extant
A chart that organizes life forms in a way that shows their descent from common ancestors
Tree of Life
What is the term for when unrelated species independently evolve similar traits. (Such as a bird and a bat wing)
Convergent evolution