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Eduqas GCSE Geology (9-1) > 2.5 The Origin and Development of Life on Earth > Flashcards

2.5 The Origin and Development of Life on Earth Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the study of fossils known as?

A

Palaeontology

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2
Q

What are fossils?

A

The preserved remains of living things

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3
Q

What are 5 types of fossil you need to be able to identify?

A
  • ammonites
  • corals
  • plants
  • trace fossils
  • trilobites
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4
Q

What are the parts of trilobites?

A
  • cephalon (head)
  • thorax (body)
  • pygidium (tail)
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5
Q

What is a fossil track?

A

A trail on the seabed where a marine creature (e.g. ammonite) has been rolled along

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6
Q

What environment were trilobites formed?

A

Marine

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7
Q

What environment were corals formed?

A

Shallow marine

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8
Q

What environment were ammonites formed?

A

Warm shallow marine

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9
Q

What environment were plant fossils formed?

A

Cold forests (mangrove swamp-like conditions)

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10
Q

What is the main theory about how living things developed?

A

Living things developed from molecules that replicate themselves

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11
Q

What are the two possible origins for molecules that replicate themselves?

A
  • they were produced by the conditions on earth at the time

* they came from somewhere else, such as another planet

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12
Q

What is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)?

A

A molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses

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13
Q

What is ribonucleic acid (RNA)?

A

A molecule that is involved in coding and expression of genes

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14
Q

What is one of the best examples of exceptional preservation?

A

The Burgess Shale fauna

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15
Q

Where did life probably originate from?

A

The oceans or hydrothermal pools

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16
Q

How long ago did life probably originate?

A

3500 Ma

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17
Q

How can the diversity in the evolution of life be identified?

A

From the fossil record

18
Q

How was Burgess Shale formed?

A

Mudstones and shales laid down on floor of shallow sea

19
Q

How is the Burgess Shale different?

A

Some soft bodies were also preserved as fossils

20
Q

How were some soft bodies preserved in the Burgess Shale?

A

Conditions for fossilisation were perfect - shallow sea

21
Q

What did the development of predators in the Cambrian era cause?

A

The rapid evolution of defensive features e.g. armour, mineralised bodies and shells

22
Q

What group did over half of the fossils in the Burgess Shale come from?

A

Arthropods

23
Q

What were the most abundant arthropods?

A

Trilobites

24
Q

What animal in a fossil shows the evolutionary links between different groups of animals or plants?

A

Archaeopteryx

25
Q

How was the rock that archaeopteryx fossils are found in formed?

A
  • limestone forming in marine conditions, with fossil sponges and animals creating reefs
  • shallow water behind formed lagoon and water evaporated, and CaCO3 precipitated out as limy mud
  • limestone separates into thin plates (used as building stone)
26
Q

What species does the archaeopteryx link?

A

Reptiles and birds

27
Q

How does the archaeopteryx link reptiles and birds?

A

It has wings with feathers, but a reptilian head with no obvious beak

28
Q

What are the fossils of our closest biological relatives?

A

Hominids

29
Q

How long ago was the hominid ‘Lucy’ estimated to lived?

A

3.2 million years ago

30
Q

What is an Auatralopithecus afarensis?

A

A human-like creature

31
Q

Which part of the body provides some of the best evidence for bipedal movement?

A

The femur (or thigh bone)

32
Q

What is biostratigraphy?

A

The branch of dating rocks that assigns relative ages of rock units by using the fossils contained within them

33
Q

What is correlation in biostratigraphy?

A

Demonstrating that a particular bed in one geological section represents the same period of time as another bed at some other section

34
Q

Why are fossils useful when dating rocks?

A

Sediments the same age can look completely different due to local variations in the sedimentary environment

35
Q

What does the oil industry use biostratigraphy for?

A

To correlate reservoir and cap rocks

36
Q

What are Forams?

A

A type of microfossil

37
Q

Where are Foraminifera found?

A

In all marine environment

38
Q

What does it mean if a creature is planktonic?

A

They float around in the seawater

39
Q

What does it mean if a creature is benthonic?

A

They live on the seabed

40
Q

Is the fossil record complete?

A

No

Eduqas GCSE Geology (9-1) (13 decks)

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