Chapter 14 TEST Flashcards
True or False
Earth is thought to have formed about 4.6 billion years ago
True
True or False
The conditions on primitive earth were very suitable for life
False
True or False
Geological events on Earth set up conditions that would play a major role in the evolution of life on earth
True
True or False
By the end of the mesozoic, the continents took on their modern shape
True
True or False
The first organisms appeared on land between 3.9 to 3.4 billion years ago
True
Trace fossil
A foot print, trail or burrow, providing evidence of animal activity
Amber-Preserved
A fossil embedded in tree sap, valuable because the organism is preserved intact
Petrified Fossil
An exact stone copy of an original organism, the hard parts of which have been penetrated and replaced by minerals
Fossil
Any evidence of an organism that lived long ago
Imprint
The fossil of a thin object (leaf of feather) that falls into sediments and leaves an outline when the sediments harden
Mold
The empty space left in rock, showing the exact shape of the organisms that were buried and decayed there
Cast
An object formed when a mold is filled by minerals from the surrounding rock
Explain how relative dating works
Scientists look at rock layers and come to a realization that the bottom layers are older and the top layers are younger
What is the limitation of relative dating
You cannot determine the actual age in years
What dating technique is often used by paleontologists to determine the specific age of a fossil
Radiometric dating
How do scientist use radiometric dating to determine the ages of rocks or fossils
Scientists compare the amount of radioactive isotopes and the new isotope it decayed into
Whe did the first stromatolite occur
Pre-Cambrian
When did primates evolve and diversify
Cenozoic era
What era is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods
Mesozoic era
What era saw an explosion of life (invertebrates and the plant phyla)
Paleozoic