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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Radiometric Dating
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A method of determining the age of an object by estimating the relative percentages of a radioactive isotope and a stable isotope.
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Radioisotope
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Unstable isotopes that break down and give off energy in the form of charged particles.
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Half-Life
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The time required for half of a sample of a radioactive substance to disintegrate by radioactive decay or by natural processes.
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Microsphere
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Tiny, droplet-like structures formed in water by short chains of amino \ acids.
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Fossil
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The trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, preserved in sedimentary rock.
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Cyanobacteria
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A bacterium that can carry out photosynthesis such as a blue-green alga.
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Eubacteria
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A classification kingdom that contains all prokaryotes except archaebacteria.
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Archeabacteria
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A classification kingdom made up of bacteria that live in extreme environments; differentiated from other prokaryotes by various important chemical differences.
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Endosymbiosis
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A mutually beneficial relationship in which one organism lives within another.
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Protists
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An organism that belongs to the kingdom Protista.
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Extinction
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The process of a species of organsisms dieing out completely.
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Mass Extinction
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An episode during which large numbers of species become extinct.
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Mycorrhizae
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A symbiotic association between fungi and plant roots.
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Mutualism
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A relationship between two species in which both species benefit.
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Arthropod
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A member of the phylum Arthropoda, which includes invertebrate animals such as insects, crustaceans, and arachnids; characterized by having segmented bodies and paired appendages.
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Vertebrate
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An animal that has a backbone; includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
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Continental Drift
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The hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single land mass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations.
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Population
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A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed.
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Natural Selection
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The process by which individuals that have favorable variations and are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do.
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Adaption
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The process of becoming adapted to an environment; an anatomical, physiological, or behavioral change that improves a population's ability to survive.
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Reproductive Isolation
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The inability of members of a population to successfully interbreed with members of another population of the same or a related species.
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Gradualism
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A model of evolution in which gradual change over a long period of time leads to biological diversity.
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Punctuated Equilibrium
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A model of evolution in which short periods of drastic change in species, including mass extinctions and rapid speciation, are separated by long periods of little or no change.
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Paleontologist
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A scientist who studies fossils.
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Vestigial Structure
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A structure in an organism that is reduced in size and function and that may have been complete and functional in the organism's ancestors.
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Homologous Structure
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Anatomical structures that share a common ancestry.
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Divergence
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The accumulation of differences between groups.
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Speciation
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The formation of a new species as a result of evolution by natural selection.
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Subspecies
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Two populations of the same species that differ genetically because of adaptations to different living conditions.
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