Chp. 14-15

States that all living things come from other living things

Process which living things could also arise from nothing

Method of establishing the age of material

An isotope is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus

When isotopes nuclei release particles or radiant energy or both, until the nuclei became stable

Isotopes that their nuclei release particles or rasiant energy, or both, until the nuclei becaome stable

The length of time it takes for one-half size sample of an isotope to decay to a stable form

Structures that are spherical in shape and are composed of many protein molecules that are organizedas a membrane

Collection of droplets that are composed of molecules of different types, including lipids, amino acids, and sugars

RNA molecule that can act as a catalyst and promote a specific chemical reaction

A related group of unicellular organisms, many of which thrive under extremely harsh environmental conditions

CO2 serves as a carbon source for the assembly of organic molecules

Is poisonous to both plant and animal life, but absorbs the ultraviolent radiation from the sun

Theory that suggests that between about 2.0 billion and 1.5 billion years ago, a type of small aerobic prokaryote was engulfed by and began to live and reproduce inside of a larger, anaerobic prokaryote

The development of new types of organisms from preexisting types of organisms over time

Rock layers

The theory that states that the more adapted will survive and reproduce

More offspring can be produced than can survive to maturity

Individuals have different traits

Individuals must compete with each other in what Darwin called a "struggle for existance"

A trait that makes an individual successful in its environment

Organisms with the best adaptations are most likely to survive and reproduce

A measure of an individual's hereditary contribution to the next generation

The remains or traces of an organism that died long ago

Principle that states that if the rock strata at a location have not been disturbed, the lowest stratum was formed before the strata above it

Its age compared to that of other fossils by reffering to the geologic time scale and to records of known fossils

The time since formation

The study of the locations of organisms around the world

Anatomical structures that occur in different species and that originated by heredity from a structure in the most recent common ancestor of the species

Closely related functions but do not derive from the same ancestrial structure

Structures that seem to serve no function but resemble structures with functional roles in related organisms

The relationships by ancestry among groups of organisms

The process by which diifferent species evolve similar traits

A process in which the descendants of a single ancestor diversify into species that each fit different parts of the environment

Pattern of divergence

This process occurs when a human breeder chooses individuals that will parent the next generation

When two or more species have evolved adaptations to each other's influence