Chapter 25 - The History of Life on Earth

Miller

________ conducted an experiment mimicking a volcanic explosion in addition to his classic 1953 research.

Radiometric dating

________ and other methods can be used to estimate the ages of fossils.

Adaptive radiations

________ have also occurred in groups of species that possessed significant evolutionary advances or colonized new areas with minimal competition from other creatures.

organic molecules

The abiotic (nonliving) synthesis of small ________, such as amino acids and nitrogenous bases.

Plate tectonics

________ describes the slow movement of continental plates through time, affecting the physical geography and climate of the Earth, resulting in extinctions in some groups and speciation in others.

fossil record

The ________ demonstrates how new groupings of creatures can emerge through the progressive alteration of preexisting ones.

broad pattern of evolution

The term*** macroevolution*** refers to the sweeping changes in life on Earth as revealed by fossils of which the ________ is above the species level.

Natural selection

________ in a changing environment or species selection as a consequence of interactions between organisms and their present habitats can both generate evolutionary trends.

Fossils of microbes

________ that existed 3.5 billion years ago provide direct proof of life on early Earth.

Adaptive radiations

________ that occurred after catastrophic extinctions resulted in significant increases in biological variety.