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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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radiometric dating |
Method used to determine the age of rocks using the rate of decay of radioactive isotopes
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Relative dating |
Method used to determine the age of rocks by comparing the rocks to older and younger rock layers |
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Paleontologist |
Scientist who studies fossils |
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half-life |
amount of time required for half of a radioactive isotope to decay |
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endosymbiont theory |
explains that eukaryotic cells may have evolved from prokaryotic cells |
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spontaneous generation |
idea that life arises from nonliving things |
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theory of biogenesis |
states that only living organisms can produce other living organisms |
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artificial selection |
darwin's term for the selective breeding of organisms selected for certain traits in order to produce offspring having those traits |
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evolution |
hereditary changes in groups of living organisms over time |
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natural selection |
theory of evolution developed by Darwin, based on 4 ideas; excess reproduction, variations, inheritance, and the advantages of specific traits in an environment |
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analogous structure |
structure that has the same function but different construction and was not inherited from a common ancestor |
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ancestral trait |
more primitive characteristics that appeared in common ancestors |
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derived trait |
New feature that has not appeared in common ancestors |
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embryo |
organisms early prebirth stage of development |
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fitness |
measure of a traits relative contribution to the following generation |
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homologous structure |
anatomically similar structure inherited from a common ancestor |
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mimicry |
morphological adaption in which one species evolves to resemble another species for protection or other advantages |
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vestigial structure |
reduced form of a functional structure that indicates shared ancestry |
