natural selection.

Question 1

adaptation

Answer 1

a characteristic that improves an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in a certain environment.

Question 2

species

Answer 2

a group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.

Question 3

evolution

Answer 3

the process in which inherited characteristics within a population change over generations such that new species sometimes arise.

Question 4

fossil

Answer 4

the remains or physical evidence of an organism preserved by geological processes.

Question 5

fossil records

Answer 5

a historical sequence of life indicated by fossils found in layers of the earths crust.

Question 6

trait

Answer 6

a genetically determined characteristic.

Question 7

selective breeding

Answer 7

the human practice of breeding animals or plants that have certain desired characteristics.

Question 8

natural selection

Answer 8

the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do

Question 9

generation time

Answer 9

the period between the birth of one generation and the birth of the next generation

Question 10

speciation

Answer 10

the formation of new species as a result of evolution

Question 11

relative dating

Answer 11

any method of determining whether an event or object is older or younger than other events or objects

Question 12

absolute dating

Answer 12

any method of measuring the age of an objector event in years.

Question 13

geologic time scale

Answer 13

the standard method used to divide the earths long natural history into manageable parts

Question 14

extinct

Answer 14

describes a species that has died off

Question 15

plate tectonics

Answer 15

the theory that explains how large pieces of the earths outermost layer called tectonic plates move and change place.

Answer 19

.