Prokaryote
a member of the domain Bacteria or Archaea. The distinguishing features of prokaryotes is the cell lacks a membrane enclosed nucleus and cell compartmentalization; includes the cells from all members of the domains Bacteria and Archaea
Eukaryote
a member of the domain Eukarya. The distinguishing feature of eukaryotes is cell compartmentalization, including a cell nucleus; eukaryotes include protists, fungi, plants and animals.
Cyanobacteria
photosynthetic prokaryotes, originated approximately 3.5 bya, the
first
organisms known to have produced O2
Fossil
Any preserved remains, imporession, or trace of any once-living past geological age. Examples include bones, sheels, exoskeletons, and more
Paleontologist
A scientist who studies fossils
Sedimentary rocks
Common sedimentart rocks include sandstone, limestone and shale. Often start as sediments carried in rivers and deposited in lakes and oceans.
Eon
A major division of geological time, divided into eras
Era
a division of geological time that represents the major stages in the macroscopic fossil record. Eras are separated by catastrophic extinction boundaries.
Period
a sub-division of an era
Extinction
The end of the existence of a species or a group of species
Continental drift
The process by which, over the course of billions of years, the major landmasses, known as the continents, have shifted there positions, changed their shapes, and in some cases, become separated from each other.
P-T boundary
The Permian-Triassic extinction event ((“the Great Dying”, “End
Permian
Extinction”, “P-T Extinction Event”), formed the boundary
between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as weel as between
the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras approximately 251.9 million years ago.
It is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with
the
extinction of 57% of biological families, 83% of genera, 81% of marine
species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species. It was the largest
known mass extinction of insects. There is evidence that the P-T
boundary was caused by the a series of volcanic eruptions in Siberia
K-T extinction event
a mass extinction that destroyed a majority of world's Mesozoic species, including all dinosaurs except for birds. Strong evidence exitst that the extinction coincided with a large meteorite impact at the Chicxulub crater and generally accepted scientific theory is that this impact triggered the extinction event.
Stromatolite
A layered calcium carbonate structure generally produced by cyanobacteria living in an aquatic environment
Heterotroph
Organisms that cannot produce their own organic molecules by using energy from inorganic sources or light, they must obtain on one or more organic compounds from their environment
Autotroph
An organism that has metabolic pathways that use energy from either nonorganic molecules or light to make organic molecules.
Photosynthesis
processes where by light energy is captrued by plant, algal, or photosynthetic bacteria cells and is used to synthesize organic molecules from CO2 and H2O
Endosymbiosis theory
A theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts orginated from bacteria that took up residence within primordial eukaryotic cells
Mitochondria
semiautonomous organelles found in eukaryotic cells that supply most
of
a cell’s ATP
Chloroplasts
semiautonomous organelles found in plant and algal cells tht cary out
photosynthesis
Multicellularity
describes organisms consisting of more than one cell, particularly
when
cell-to-cell adherence and signaling processes and cellular
specialization can be
demonstrated
Cambrian explosion
An event during the Cambrain Period (543-490 mya)in which
there
was an abrupt increase (on a geological scale) in the
diversity of animal species.
Pangea
a supercontinent that existed in the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic eras.
Phylogenetic tree
diagram that describes the hypothesized evolutionary relationships
among various species, based on information available to
and
gathered by systematists.
Primate
an order of mammals characterized that arose 85-55 mya characterized
by
binocular vision, at least some digits with flat nails instead
of claws, a large brain and complex social behavior with
well-developed parental care.