Evolution 2: Evidence for Evolution

The fossil record help scientists

• better understand the kinds of organisms that lived in the past

• better understand how the environment has changed over time

• better understand how organisms have evolved over time

• all of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What is common ancestry?

• When a species no longer exists

• When organisms are descended from a single ancestor

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The earliest organisms were ___________; the more recent organisms are ____________.

• simple; more complex

• complex; more simple

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What is the value of a transitional fossil?

• Transitional forms show the evolutionary steps between species.

• Transitional forms are evidence of punctuated equilibrium.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

50 million years ago, the Pakicetus had nostrils toward the front of it's skull Gray whales, modern-day descendants of the Pakicetus have nostrils toward the back of the skull. The Aetiocetus lived 25 million years ago, and it's nostril was in the middle of the skull. In this case, the Aetiocetus serves as a ______________.

• index fossil

• transitional fossil

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The forelimbs of humans, cats, whales, and bats are similar in structure due to having a common ancestor hundreds of millions of years ago. Is this considered homolgy or analogy?

• Homology

• Analogy

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Which of the following are homologous structures?

• whale flipper and bat wing

• legs on a beetle and legs on a cat

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The cave fish and minnow are related to each other but the cave fish is blind and only has the remnants of an eye. What type of structure is this?

• vestigial

• analogous

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What is an example of a vestigial structure in a human?

• liver

• appendix

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What is the study of the similarities and differences in unborn fetuses, or developing organisms?

• Paleoclimatology

• Comparative embryology

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-3