LS.8.1 Fossil Record Vocabulary

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Species

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Organisms that have the same structure and functions.

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Extinction

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A species in which all organisms on Earth have died. 99% of all organisms that have lived on Earth are extinct.

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Adaptation

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Ways in which organisms change over time in order to survive in a changing environment.

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Fossil Record

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Organized database of fossils showing how life and Earth have changed over time.

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Biodiversity

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Variation among the way life looks (structure) and acts (functions).

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Fossils

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Preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms.

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Paleontology

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The scientific study of the history of life on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils.

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Natural Selection

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The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

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Evolution

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The change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.

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Geological Time Scale

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A system of chronological dating that relates geological strata to time.