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Evolution Unit Vocabulary
1. Absolute age: the age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock was formed
2. Acquired traits: traits (characteristics) that are gained by an organism after birth (from Genetics
Unit)
3. Adaptation: a trait that has become common to a population because it promotes survival and
reproduction in a certain environment
4. Atom: the smallest particle of an element
5. Carbon film: a type of fossil consisting of an extremely thin coating of carbon on rock
6. Cast: a fossil that is a solid copy of an organism’s shape, formed when minerals seep into a mold
7. Catastrophism: is the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived,
violent events, possibly worldwide in scope.
8. Element: a type of matter in which all the atoms are the same
9. Endangered species: species that have such a small population that they are in danger of
becoming extinct
10. Era: one of the three long units of geologic time between the Precambrian and the present
11. Evolution: the process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over time
12. Extant: still in existence, surviving
13. Extinct: describe a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on Earth
14. Extrusion: an igneous rock layer formed when lava flows onto Earth’s surface & hardens
15. Fault: a break or crack in Earth’s lithosphere along which the rocks move
16. Fossil: the preserved remains or traces of living things
17. Fossil record: all fossils that have been found on Earth (not complete)
18. Genes- basic unit of heredity (smallest piece of genetic information), part of DNA, found in every
cell (from Genetics unit)
19. Geologic time scale: a record of the geologic events and life forms in Earth’s history
20. Half-life: the time it takes for half of the atoms of a radioactive element to decay
21. Index fossil: fossils of widely distributed organisms that lived during only one short period
22. Inherited traits: traits/characteristics that are passed from parent to offspring through
reproduction (from Genetics Unit)
23. Intrusion: an igneous rock layer formed when magma hardens beneath Earth’s surface
24. Invertebrate: an animal without a backbone
25. Law of superposition: the geologic principle that states that in horizontal rock layers of
sedimentary rocks, each layer is older than the layer above it and younger than the layer below
it
26. Mammal: a warm-blooded vertebrate that feeds its young milk
27. Mass extinction: when many types of living things become extinct at the same time
28. Mold: a fossil formed when an organism buried in sediment dissolves, leaving a hollow area
29. Mutations: the cause of genetic variation, a change in a gene
30. Natural selection: the process of how animals with certain features, or traits, are more likely to
survive to adulthood and reproduce
31. Paleontologist: a scientist who studies fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago
32. Paleontology: the study of fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago
33. Period: one of the units of geologic time into which geologists divide eras
Evolution Unit Vocabulary
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Petrified fossil: a fossil in which minerals replace all or part of an organism
Radioactive decay: the breakdown of a radioactive element, releasing particles and energy
Relative age: the age of a rock compared to the ages of rock layers
Reptile: a vertebrate with scale skin that lays eggs with tough, leathery shells
Scientific theory: a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations
Sedimentary rock: the type of rock that is made of hard sediments
Species: a group of similar organisms that can mate with each other and produce offspring that
can also mate and reproduce
Speciation: the formation of new species through natural selection; accounts for biodiversity
Stratigraphic column: a diagram representing a series of rock layers
Trace fossil: a type of fossil that provides evidence of the activities of ancient organisms
Unconformity: a place where an old, eroded rock surface is in contact with a newer rock layer
Uniformitarianism: the geologic principle that the same geologic processes that operate today
operated in the past to change Earth’s surface
Variation: the differences between individuals within ONE species
Vertebrate: an animal with a backbone
New words in RED = 1st quiz
New words in BLUE = 2nd quiz
New words in GREEN = 3rd quiz