Origins of Life Crossword

a trait that increases the chances that an organism will survive and reproduc
was a naturalist who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection.
the change in population of a species over time.
The evolutionary termination of a species caused by the failure to reproduce and the death of all remaining members of the species; the natural failure to adapt to environmental change.
evidence of past life preserved in rock.
the complete body of fossils that shows how species and ecosystems change over time.
the process of becoming a fossil
a fossil found in a narrow time range but widely distributed around the earth; used to date rock layers
survival of the fittest organisms that are the best adapted to their environment and the ones that will live long enough to reproduce and pass on their favorable adaptations
the most specific classification of living things
an explanation that ties together many hypothesis and observations.
a fossilized mark that is formed in soft sediment by the movement or actions of an animal.
any method of measuring the age of an event or object in years. the actual age for a rock or mineral
theory that states that the gradual shifting of Earth’s plates causes continents to change their global positions over time
the matching up of rock layers from different locations
the boundary formed by the collision of two lithospheric plates
the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
the time needed for half of a sample of radioactive substance to undergo radioactive decay.
states that the oldest rocks lie on the bottom and the youngest rocks are on top of any undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks.
the theory that explains how large pieces of the Earth’s outermost layer called tectonic plates move and change shape.
the process by which the age of a rock is determined by measuring the amount of radioactive isotopes present in the rock or rock sample
the method used for absolute dating.
the process in which a radioactive isotope tends to break down into a stable isotope of the same element or another element.
uses information about rock layers and the fossil record to determine the age relationships between rocks
gaps in the rock record.
the largest division of geologic time
a subdivision of a geologic period
a unit of geologic time that includes two or more periods
the standard method used to divide the Earth’s long natural history into manageable parts
era that began about 66 million years ago, known as the “Age of Mammals”
occurs when a large proportion of the earth’s species go extinct in a relatively short period of time.
era that began 245 million years ago, known as the age of the dinosaurs
a subdivision of the eras in geologic time