Chapter 7/8 Flashcards
What is species?
Is a group of organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring.
What is adaptation?
A characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.
What is evolution?
The process in which populations gradually change over time.
What is fossil record?
By the studying fossils, scientists have made a timeline of life.
What is trait?
Is a characteristic that can be passed from parent to offspring through genes.
What is selective breeding?
The process in which human select which plants or animals to reproduce based on certain desired traits.
What is natural selection?
Is the process by which organism that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted organism do.
What is speciation?
The formation of new species as a result of evolution.
What is relative dating?
Estimating the age of rocks and fossils in this way.
What is absolute dating?
Is a method that measures the age of fossils or rock in years.
What is geologic time scale?
The calendar scientist ps use to outline the history of life on Earth.
What is extinct?
Describes a species that has died out completely.
What is plate tectonics?
Wilson theory of these huge pieces of crust move around the Earth.
What is Precambrian time?
Is the time from the formation of Earth 4.6 billion years ago to about 542 million years ago.
What is Paleozoic era?
The geologic era that followed Precambrian time and that lasted from 542 million to 251 million years ago.
