Fossils

We can learn that ancient and modern tetrapods are related from their fossils.

• True

• False

What is the Fossil Record?

• A fossil found in mud.

• Bark imprints found in hardened mud.

• The history of fossils in the last 200,000 years.

• All the fossils that have been discovered.

Why is the fossil record considered incomplete? (Three answers!)

• There are fossils that have not yet been discovered.

• There are organisms that have not been extinct long enough to become fossils.

• Some organism are too small to make fossils.

• Fossils did not always form.

• Not all organisms become fossils.

Life forms throughout the history of life on Earth are documented with the fossil record. Which of the following can we learn about from the fossil record?

• mating behavior

• environment

• change

• diversity

• number of fossils in existence

Why do we find more fossils of vertebrates than invertebrates?

• Vertebrates lived longer.

• Vertebrates ate all of the invertebrates.

• Vertebrates have a stronger structure including teeth and bones that help them keep their form longer after they die.

• Invertebrates decompose faster because they are made of sugar.

Which of the following is an example of adaptation?

• People are left handed and right handed.

• Fish eat algae.

• Rain comes from clouds.

• Organisms develop bone structure and digits that extend from their limbs.

What is the Principal of Superposition?

• Sedimentary rocks are older on the bottom than on the top.

• Sedimentary rocks are older on the top than on the bottom.

• Sedimentary rocks are older in the middle than on the top.

• Sedimentary rocks are older in the middle than on the bottom.