Fossil & Evolution Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards related to fossils and evolution.

Fossil

Evidence of a pre-existing species (tooth, bone, feather, imprint)

Fossilization

Minerals replace substances in bone and fill porous spaces, turning the bone into rock.

Fossilization

Protection from forces of destruction (e.g., death near water or in a cave).

Paleocene epoch

65 - 56 million years ago

Eocene epoch

56 - 33 million years ago

Oligocene epoch

33 - 23 million years ago

Miocene epoch

23 - 5 million years ago

Pliocene epoch

5 - 2.6 million years ago

Pleistocene epoch

2.6 million years ago - 10,500 years ago

Holocene epoch

10,500 years ago - present

Plate tectonics

Earth's outer shell is divided into moving plates affecting migration, climate, and ecology.

Relative dating

Organizes items in a rank ordered sequence.

Chronometric (absolute) dating

Assigns a specific age to an item using radioactive decay.

Stratigraphy

Dating fossils based on their position in sedimentary rock layers.

Principle of Superposition

Younger items are closer to the Earth's surface.

Biostratigraphy

Dating fossils based on association with index fossils of known age.

Fluorine analysis

Estimates relative age by fluoride concentration in bones/teeth.

Radioactive decay

Process where a radioactive isotope releases energy at a fixed rate (half-life).

Potassium-argon dating

40K decays into 40Ar; used for volcanic rocks, especially early hominin fossils.

The discovery of piltdown specimen in 1912

Charles darwin

Reconstruction of Piltdown specimen

Arthur smith woodworth

Piltdown specimen was fraudulent

1949