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1. Dinosaurs lived in the Cretaceous Period and died off about 65 million years

ID: 65196 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Dinosaurs lived in the Cretaceous Period and died off about 65 million years ago. Wholly

mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and huge ground sloths lived during the Pleistocene and died

off about 1.8 million years ago. If you found the most amazing fossil bed ever that contained

fossils from both times in Earths history, where would you expect to find these fossils

relative to one another in the strata?

2. The older the stratum, the more ________________ its fossils were to current life-forms.

3. A principle that states that the history of Earth was marked by sudden catastrophic events and

was caused by mechanisms that are different then those operating today is called?

4. What is the principle that explains that Earth’s geologic processes are gradual and still in

operation today, and that over time their cumulative effects could cause profound change.

5. What is the process whereby individuals with certain inherited traits leave more offspring

than individuals with other traits?

6. Briefly define the pattern of evolution and the process of evolution in Darwin’s terms.

7. To explain natural selection, Darwin used the process of artificial selection to illustrate how

the selection of desirable traits in the organisms we use for resources could greatly modify

the structure of those organisms over time. Give an example of something we have modified

through this process.

8. Discuss the 4 observations that supported Darwin’s idea of natural selection.

9. Give an example of direct observations that confirm Darwin’s theory.

10. What are examples of convergent evolution?

Explanation / Answer

2. The older the stratum, the more dissimilar its fossils were to current life-forms.Cuvier, the father of paleontology examining the fossils near Paris concluded that each stratum is characterised by unique set of fossil species and the deeper the stratum the more diverse the flora and fauna to modern life forms.