| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Endangered Species | species that have such a small population that they are in danger of becoming extinct |
| Extinct | last member of a species dies without any surviving offspring |
| Species | a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals that can interbreed and produce viable offspring |
| Fossil | any trace of life preserved in rock |
| Geologic Time Scale | a system of chronological measurement that relates stratigraphy to time (timing and relationships between events that have occurred throughout Earth's history) |
| Paleontologists | scientists who study fossils |
| Extinction | the act of process of becoming extinct; a comint to an end or dying out |
| Law of Superpositioin | when observing a sequence of rock layers, the top layer, along with any fossils it contains, is younger than any other layer in that sequence, and the bottom layer, along with any fossils it contains, is the oldest layer in that sequence |
| Stratigraphic Column | a diagram representing a series of rock layers (think Grand Canyon) They can be made by looking at the sides of cliffs, or by looking at drill cores |
| Adaptation | a certain trait which causes an organism to survive in its environment (webbed toes) |
| Evolution | changes through time |
| Genes | strands of DNA that code for traits which are observable |
| Natural Selection | organisms that have advantageous adaptations have a greater chance of reproducing and passing that adaptation to offspring |
| Trait | a version of a characteristic (long necks in giraffes) |
| Variation | differences that arise among different members of a species |
| Competition | when two different species do the same job in an ecosystem or eat the same food |
| Mutation | when reproduction of genetic material does not happen perfectly |
| Speciation | when a new species arises |
| Lamarck's theories on evolution are based on… | Acquired Traits |
| Darwin's theories on evolution are based on… | Traits that are passed down to the next generation |
