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58 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Paleontology
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the scientific study of prehistoric life
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fossils
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Remains or traces of prehistoric life
"prove" evolution has occurred determine biologic history of earth date and correlate rocks |
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Geologic time
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Time sets geology apart from most other sciences
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How is geologic time measured?
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Relative and absolute age dating methods
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Uniformitarianism
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Present is key to the past
processes we see today were the same, RATE is different |
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Fossil succession
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Fossil sequences occur in a particular order
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Superposition
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any flatline sequence of rocks: old rocks on bottom, young on top
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Original Horizontality
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rocks/sediments deposited horizontally under the influence of gravity
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Absolute age dating
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How many years ago something took place
radioactive dating |
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relative age dating
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Sequence of events
ex) A, B, C, D Not an actual time, just the order that they happened |
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radioactivity
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the process by which a nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting particles of ionizing radiation.
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parent atoms
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The original state of an atom or element before it undergoes a chemical change
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daughter atoms
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an atom that is formed during the radioactive decay in nuclear reaction
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half-life
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radioactive elements decay at a constant rate
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isotopes
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variants of a particular chemical element such that, same number of protons, different number of neutrons
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What is the carbon 14 dating method and why is it useful?
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Used on once living things
measures ratio of radioactive carbon-14 to non-radioactive-12 useful back to 70,000 years |
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Three major rock groups
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Igneous
form from magma intrusive (form beneath earth) vs. extrusive (surface) rarely have fossils Sedimentary form at the surface have most fossils "pages of the history of life" interpret ancient environment Metaphoric form beneath earth's surface result of heat and pressure change takes place in the solid state |
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Three major types of fossils
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Body fossils (shells, bones, teeth)
Trace fossils (tracks, trails, burrows) Coprolites (old poop) |
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What are the two most important criteria for preservation
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Hard parts
Rapid burial |
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What are the four main types of preservation?
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Preservation without alteration (original material preserved)
Preservation with alteration (original material replaced or filled with secondary material) Preservation in Tar Freezing |
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What are the subcategories of the major types of preservation?
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Preservation w/o alteration: Tar, freezing, amber
With alteration: replacement, carbonization |
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What is the most common mineral that invertebrate shells are composed of?
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calcium carbonate
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What are the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics?
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Wegener: Theory that continents have moved throughout Earth's history
Plate tectonic theory |
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How does plate tectonics affect the distribution of organisms
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Fossils of the same organism are found in different continents
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What two principal factors control the geographic distribution of plants and animals?
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Climate: more life in tropics than high altitudes
Barriers: prevent migration of species |
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What is the relationship between plant and animal diversity and their latitudinal distribution?
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Strong increase in diversity from poles to equator
Animals at the poles are more likely to be generists |
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Who is Alfred Wegener and why is he important?
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Came up with the original continental drift theory
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What are Pangaea, Gondwana and Laurasia?
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Pangaea: Large supercontinent
Gondwana/Laurasia: two continents that split from Pangaea |
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What are plates?
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Composed of crust and upper mantle
Cover Earth |
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What is the consequence of plate movement?
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Earthquakes, volcanoes, creates barriers for speciation and opportunities for adaptive radiation, formation of ocean
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What are the three major types of plate boundaries?
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Divergent: Initial rifting, continued rifting, formation of narrow/wide sea
Convergent: Plates come together, one is sub ducted beneath another Transform |
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Example of each plate boundary
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Divergent: Red Sea, African Rift Valley, Mid Atlantic Ridge
Convergent: Japan, Philippines, Andes Mountains, Himalayas, San Andreas Fault Transform: |
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What was the evidence for continental drift?
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continental fit
fossils glacial lithologic (rocks) |
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What is the theory of evolution?
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"tree of life"
latin-unrolled, progression change in organisms through time all organisms are the evolutionary descendants of life forms in the past |
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Who is Darwin? Theories?
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Natural Selection
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Who is Lamarck? Theories?
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published paper stating species were not immutable
theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics |
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Who is Mendel? Theories?
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Garden pea experiment
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What is natural selection?
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Method of evolution
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What are the four major points Darwin used in providing a logical and testable theory for evolutionary change?
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All populations contain heritable variations
Some variations are more favorable than others Organisms produce more offspring than needed to maintain stable population Those with favorable variations are more likely to survive and pass on those characteristics |
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How are organisms classified?
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Into categories
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What are the different categories of classification?
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Heirarchial and group
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What is the Linnaean system of binomial nomenclature
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Carolus Linnaeus wrote it
Each species has a 2 part name 1st letter of genus is capitalized All others are lower case Second word is underlined or italicized |
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What are homologous structures, why are they important and what do they tell us about the relationship or organisms?
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Homologous: show relationship
ie common ancestors and origin similar embryological development (might not serve the same function |
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What are analogous structures and how do they differ from homologous structures?
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Serve same purpose, but not necessarily related
Do not show common ancestor |
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What is a phylogeny?
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a family tree or genealogy of taxa
shows evolutionary history vertical axis represents time |
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Prokaryote cells
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no nucleus
bacteria (fossil record) and archaea (no fossil record) |
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Eukaryote cells
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nucleus
chromosomes (DNA & protein) protista fungi animalia plantae |
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chromosomes
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Hold DNA and proteins
Genetic variability comes from mutations in DNA |
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genes
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basic unit of inheritance
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DNA
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Deoxyribonucleic acid
sugar phosphate backbone |
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mutations
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mistakes in linear sequence
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genotype
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genetic makeup of an organism
where mutations occur "blue print" |
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phenotype
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outward expression of genotype
what natural selection operates on "building" |
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What are the two modes of evolution?
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Phyletic Evolution (small gradual changes over long periods of time involving the whole population
Punctuated equilibrium (little or no change over a long period, followed by rapid speciation result of isolation of population |
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What is allopatric speciation?
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most species arise when a small part of a population is isolated
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What are the three patterns of evolution?
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Divergent evolution: ancestral form gives rise to descendant forms
Convergent evolution: distantly related organisms evolving independently give rise to similar appearing organisms Parallel evolution: closely related organisms evolving independently give rise to similar appearing organisms |
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What is adaptive radiation and mass extinction?
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Adaptive radiation: species of related ancestry exploit different parts of the environment
Mass extinction: large numbers of species eliminated in a short period of time |
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What are the five major lines of evidence for evolution?
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Classification: shows relationships
Comparative Anatomy: common ancestors/origin Analogous Structures: serve same purpose but not necessarily related Vestigial Organs Small-scale evolution: repeated applications of the same insecticides act as a form of natural selection |
