A collection of abiotically produced molecules surrounded by a membrane or membrane-like structure
Define Radiometric Dating
a method for determining the absolute ages of rocks and fossils, based on half-life of radioactive isotopes
Define Half-life
the amount of time it takes for 50% of a sample of a radioactive isotope to decay
Define geologic record
The division of Earth's history into time periods, grouped into 3 eons- Archaean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic
Define Stromatolite
layered rock that results from the activities of prokaryotes that bind thin films to sediment together
Define endosymbiosis
a model taht posits that mitochondria and plastids were formally small prokaryotes that began living within larger cells
Define Serial endosymbiosis
a model that posits that mitochondria evolved before plastids through a sequence of endosymbiotic events
Cambrian Explosion
Burst of life, and diversity, hard bodied animals appear
Define Continental Drift
the slow movement of the contenental plates across Earth's surface
Define Pangaea
The supercontinent that formed near the end of the paleozoic era, when plate movements brought all fo the landmasses of Earth together
Define Mass Extinction
When large numbers of species become extinct throuout earth
Define Adaptive Radiations
Periods of evoluionary change in which groups of organisms form many new species whose adaptations allow them to fill vacant ecological roles in their communities
Define heterochrony
Evolutionary change in the timing or rate of an organism's development
Define paedomorphosis
The retention in an adulgt organism of the juvenile features of its evolutionart ancestors
Define homeotic genes
Any of the master regulatory genes that control placement and spatial organization of body parts in organisms by controlling the developmental fate of groups of cells