Chapter 10 And 12 Vocabulary Words - Principles of Evolution and the History of Life Flashcards
0
Q
Radiometric dating
A
- A technique that uses the natural decay rate of unstable isotopes found in materials in order to calculate the age of of that material
1
Q
Relative dating
A
- Estimates the time during which an organism lived by comparing the placement of fossils of that organism with the placement of fossils in other layers of rocks
2
Q
Isotope
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- Atoms of an element that have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons
3
Q
Half-life
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- Time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value.
4
Q
Geological Time Scale
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- System of chronological measurement that relates stratigraphy to time, and is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred throughout Earth’s history.
5
Q
Ribozyme
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- RNA molecule capable of acting as an enzyme.
6
Q
Cyanobacteria
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- Division of microorganisms that are related to the bacteria but are capable of photosynthesis. They are prokaryotic and represent the earliest known form of life on the earth
7
Q
Endosymbiosis
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- Symbiosis in which one of the symbiotic organisms lives inside the other.
8
Q
The Cambrian Period
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- Refers to the appearance in the fossil record of most major animal body plans about 543 million years ago. The new fossils appear in an interval of 20 million years or less.
9
Q
Bipedal
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- (of an animal) using only two legs for walking.
10
Q
Evolution
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- Process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth
11
Q
Species
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- A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.
12
Q
Fossil
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- Remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.
13
Q
Variation
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- A modification in structure, form or function in an organism, deviating from other organisms of the same species or group.
14
Q
Adaptation
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- Adjustment or changes in behavior, physiology, and structure of an organism to become more suited to an environment.
15
Q
Artificial Selection
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- Process by which humans breed other animals and plants for particular traits
16
Q
Natural selection
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- Process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring
17
Q
Population
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- All the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country
18
Q
Homologous structure
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- An example of an organ or bone that appears in different animals, underlining anatomical commonalities demonstrating descent from a common ancestor
19
Q
Analogous structure
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- Similar in function but having different evolutionary origins, as the wings of a butterfly and the wings of a bird
20
Q
Vestigial structure
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- Applies to genetically determined structures or attributes that have apparently lost most or all of their ancestral function in a given species
21
Q
Paleontology
A
- branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.
