question

made when sediments fill in a cavity made when an object decayed and the sediments harden into rock

answer

cast

question

Index fossils are the remains of species that existed on Earth for relatively short periods of time.

answer

true

question

What are index fossils used to determine?

answer

the age of the surrounding rock layer

question

Preserved animal tracks are called ______ fossils.

answer

trace

question

Dinosaur footprints are original remains.

answer

false

question

A ______ is the cavity left behind in the rock after an organism's hard part has dissolved.

answer

mold

question

Carbon films are formed when a thin film of carbon is left, forming a silhouette of the original organism.

answer

true

question

Index fossils are the remains of species that were once abundant and

answer

geographically widespread

question

Fossils most often form when a dead organism is buried in sediments.

answer

true

question

hollow place in rock made when an organism died and was buried and holes in the rock let air or water reach it and dissolve the organism

answer

NOT mold

question

Dogs have a reduced nonfunctional digit on their paws known as a dewclaw. What is this an example of?

answer

vestigial structure

question

Biology shows us the fossil record and comparative anatomies. Chemistry shows us that organic molecules can come from inorganic matter. Geology shows us that organisms that used to live together are found on separate continents due to continental drift. Which fields of science provide evidence for evolution?

answer

biology, chemistry, and geology

question

The fossil record shows that two groups of organisms are related, which means they share a .

answer

common ancestor

question

What is the value of a transitional fossil?

answer

Transitional forms show the evolutionary steps between species.

question

Studying the anatomy of different organisms allows scientists to determine how different species have evolved over time. Which type of anatomic structure are bird wings and butterfly wings when compared to each other?

answer

analogous

question

Which lists the correct order of evolutionary history?

answer

jellyfish, reptiles, mammals

question

Whales have what seem like remnants of a pelvis and femur, as shown here. What are these structures an example of?

answer

NOT transitional structures

question

Wisdom teeth are the third and final set of human molars that come in during the late teens or early twenties. In some cases, these teeth come in without problems, but they often have to be removed due to misalignment in the jaw, as shown below. Removal of the teeth does not cause any long-term complications in regard to eating. Which type of anatomic structure are wisdom teeth?

answer

vestigial

question

What do gradualism and punctuated equilibrium have in common?

answer

They are both explanations of the rate of evolutionary change.

question

What is the most likely reason that horses and mountain goats have hooves?

answer

They have homologous structures because they have a common ancestor.

question

Nonconformities occur when sedimentary rocks are deposited on top of uplifted and eroded metamorphic or igneous rocks.

answer

t

question

In a series of undisturbed rock layers where shale lies between sandstone below and limestone above, the ____.

answer

A. limestone is youngest

question

Gaps in rock layers are called ____.

answer

A. unconformities

question

Which statement is true of the undisturbed rock layers shown? Limestone shale sandstone

answer

limestone is the youngest

question

The age of one rock layer compared to the age of another rock layer is its __________.

answer

relative age

question

Scientists are able to determine the relative age of rocks in specific years.

answer

f

question

states that for undisturbed rocks, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the rocks become younger and younger toward the top

answer

principle of superposition

question

Which principle states that, in undisturbed rock layers, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the youngest rocks are on top?

answer

the principle of superposition

question

If a layer of sandstone lies on top of a layer of limestone in which a 300-million-year-old fossil is found, and there are no unconformities, the layer of sandstone must be ____.

answer

younger than 300 million years

question

If the same sequence of rock layers is observed over a large area, ____.

answer

b. a large deposit of rock formed over a large area

question

the process of calculating the absolute age of a rock by measuring the amounts of parent and daughter materials in a rock and by knowing the half-life of the parent

answer

radiometric dating

question

While examining layers of rock, a geologist states, "The sandstone is older than the limestone." What has the geologist determined?

answer

the relative ages of the rock layers

question

Absolute age examines the position of rocks in a sequence.

answer

false

question

the process in which one of an isotope's neutrons breaks down into a proton and an electron and the electron leaves the atom as a beta particle

answer

beta decay

question

Fossils up to 75,000 years old can be dated with ______.

answer

carbon-14

question

____ dating uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find their ages.

answer

b. absolute

question

Which kind of dating can be used to determine the exact age of the rock and which kind of carbon dating is used to compare the ages of rocks?

answer

absolute; relative

question

Radiocarbon dating would be useful in dating the age of Earth.

answer

f

question

The clock on a rock is set as soon as it begins to erode.

answer

f

question

states that Earth processes today are similar to those that took place in the past

answer

uniformitarianism

question

What time period lasted for more than half of the hypothesized history of the Earth?

answer

d. Precambrian

question

The Precambrian time period is the largest on the geological time scale.

answer

t

question

Early land animals had gills as well as lungs.

answer

t

question

A life-form in the Precambrian time was ____.

answer

a. cyanobacteria

question

The development of ____ factored in the development of complex organisms.

answer

d. all of the above

question

Geologic events that occurred during the Paleozoic Era include mountain building and volcanic activity.

answer

f

question

Cyanobacteria increased the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

answer

f

question

Life-forms that existed during the Paleozoic Era included ____.

answer

d. all of the above

question

The Precambrian time period is segmented into very few parts because:

answer

NOT cyanobacteria were the only life form

question

The formation of the moon may have caused the Paleozoic extinction.

answer

f

question

Which of the following appeared during the Mesozoic Era?

answer

d. all of the above

question

Flowering plants are ______.

answer

angiosperms

question

The breakup of Pangaea resulted in warm, wet global climates.

answer

f

question

Gymnosperms, or seed-bearing plants, were the only abundant form of plant life during the Mesozoic Era.

answer

f

question

The mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era was caused by ______.

answer

a meteor or asteroid colliding with Earth

question

Seed-bearing plants are also referred to as

answer

Gymnosperms

question

Dinosaurs were the dominant land animal of the Mesozoic Era.

answer

t

question

Which of the following statement describes dinosaurs during the Mesozoic era?

answer

They were good mothers

question

The Cenozoic was a time of _______.

answer

mountain building

question

Significant plate tectonic changes occurred on Earth during the Mesozoic Era.

answer

t

question

Most mammals during the Mesozoic were

answer

a. small and rodent like

question

During the Mesozoic Era, Pangaea separated into ______.

answer

Laurasia and Gondwanaland

Biology: index fossils, anatomic organism structure, layers of rock – Flashcards

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