What is the name of the supercontinent theorized by Alfred Wegener?
Pangaea
Natural selection is also known as...
"survival of the fittest"
SOTF
Why do species become extinct?
They lack the genetic variation to adapt to changing environmental conditions.
How do fossils provide evidence for the Theory of Plate Tectonics?
Fossils of similar species have been found on different continents, which gives evidence that the continents were once joined.
How can fossils found in undisturbed rock layers help scientists determine when a species became extinct?
If a species became extinct, its fossils will be found in lower rock layers but not in higher rock layers.
What is the term used to describe a change in an organism's genetic material?
mutation
How do volcanoes and earthquakes provide evidence for the Theory of Plate Tectonics?
Volcanoes and earthquakes occur at plate boundaries and show that tectonic plates are still moving.
Using the Theory of Plate Tectonics, explain why Asian and African elephants evolved into different species.
When Pangaea split, the two populations of elephants eventually ended up living in different environments and climates. Natural selection took over, different traits became dominant, and two different species evolved.
How are fossils useful for taxonomy?
Fossils give evidence of organisms' anatomy, which helps scientists classify the organisms.
Taxanatomy
What is the difference between an analogous and homologous structure?
Analogous--different structure/same function (no common ancestor) A/DS/SF/NA
Homologous--same structure/different function (common ancestor) H/SS/DF/CA
What is the relationship between genetic variation and a species' ability to avoid becoming extinct?
the higher the genetic variation, the more likely the species is to survive for a longer period of time/less genetic variation puts a species more at risk for extinction