4 stage chemical and physical processes on early Earth that may have produced very simple cells:

1) Abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules.

2) Joining of these small molecules in macromolecules.

3) Packaging of molecules into protocells.

4) Origin of self-replicating molecules.

evolutionary change above the species level. examples include the origin of new group of organisms through a series of speciation events and the impact of mass extinctions on the diversity of life and its subsequent recovery.

Macroevolutionary

Earth formed about...

4.6 billion years ago

Two men who conducted lab experiments that showed that the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules in a reducing atmosphere is possible.

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey

an abiotic precursor of a living cell that had a membrane-like structure and that maintained an internal chemistry different from that of its surroundings.

Protocell

The first genetic material was probably ______, not _____.

RNA, not DNA

RNA molecules called ________ have been found to catalyze many different reactions.

Ribozymes

sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers called _______ and are the richest source of fossils.

strata

a method for determining the absolute age of rocks and fossils, based on the half-life of radioactive isotopes.

radiometric-dating

the amount of time it takes for 50% of a sample of radioactive isotope to decay.

half-life

The division of Earth's history into time periods grouped into three eons- Archaean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic- and further subdivided into eras, periods and epochs.

geologic record

The _________ encompasses multicellular eukaryotic life.

Phanerozoic

The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras:

1) Paleozoic

2) Mesozoic

3) Cenozoic

The early rise is O₂ was likely caused by ancient ________- bacteria capable to perform photosynthesis.

cyanobacteria

The _________ ______ proposes that mitochondria and plastids (chloroplasts and related organelles) were formerly small prokaryotes living within larger host cells.

endosymbiont theory

an ___________ is a cell that lives within a host cell.

endosymbiont

The ____________ __________ refers to the sudden appearance of fossils resembling modern animal phyla in the Cambrian period. (535 to 525 million years ago).

Cambrian explosion

Fungi, plants, and animals began to colonize land about:

500 million years ago

According to the theory of _____ ________, Eath's crust is composed of plates floating on Earth's mantle.

Plate tectonics

Tectonic plates move slowly through the process of:

continental drift

At times, the rate of extinction has increased dramatically and caused a:

mass extinction

(The "Big Five" Mass extinction events)

Ther _________ extinction defines the boundary between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras 251 million years ago.

Permian extinction

(The "Big Five" Mass extinction events)

The ________ mass extinction 65.5 million years ago Mesozoic from the Cenozoic. and marks the period of dinosaur extinction.

Cretaceous mass extinction

period of evolutionary change in which groups of organisms form may new species whose adaptations allow them to fill different ecological roles in their communities.

Adaptive radiation