Identify events and patterns in the fossil record
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Earth Science › Identify events and patterns in the fossil record
A Paleontologist uncovers a bed of fossils in the continental United States. The bed of fossils is full of shells and sea creatures, but the paleontologist is nowhere near the ocean. How is this possible?
there was a body of water there at one point
the fossils were deposited there by rivers
animals carried the fossils there
they are probably false fossils, or just rocks that look like shells
Explanation
The answer is "There was a body of water there at one point." Due to continental drift and changes to Earth's geography over time, oceans and lakes are in different places today than they were many millions of years ago.
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
The end of an "era" in the geologic time scale is usually marked by what?
a mass extinction
sudden tectonic activity
a meteor
a drastic change in geography
Explanation
The answer is "a mass extinction."
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
Which of the following would NOT be found in the fossil record?
dinosaur hearts
prehistoric fish teeth
the shells and plates of marine creatures
skeletons of large dinosaurs
Explanation
The answer is "dinosaur hearts" because hearts are soft body parts and do not fossilize well.
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
Fossils are more easily preserved and thus usually found in what type of rock?
sedimentary
igneous
metamorphic
basalt
Explanation
The answer is "sedimentary."
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
What is the K-T Boundary?
a mass extinction event in the fossil record caused by a meteor
a mass extinction event in the fossil record caused by a volcanic eruption
an explosion in the diversity of dinosaurs caused by an abundance of water
an explosion in the diversity of dinosaurs caused by an abundance of plant life
Explanation
The answer is "a mass extinction event in the fossil record caused by a meteor."
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
Scientists have discovered fossils of plant life in Antarctica, but Antarctica is too cold to have grown these tropical plants. Which of the following best explains why fossils of tropical plants were found there?
The location of Antarctica has shifted north due to tectonic drift and it used to have a warmer climate.
In prehistoric times, the entire Earth was covered in vast jungles.
Geothermal activity in Antarctica has decreased due to global warming, so the temperature in Antarctica is now much colder.
The fossils of tropical plants washed up on the shores of Antarctica from neighboring continents with warmer climates.
Explanation
The answer is "The location of Antarctica has shifted north due to tectonic drift and it used to have a warmer climate."
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
The image shows a condensed version of the Geologic Time Scale. Prehistoric creatures existed from as far back as 570 million years ago in the Paleozoic Era. Dinosaurs existed during the Mesozoic era from about 240 to 65 million years ago. and human life as we know it takes place during the Cenozoic Era. Based on the information in this image, which of the following statements is FALSE?
no human fossils can be found
humans have existed for a very small part of geologic time
marine creatures during the Cambrian period are some of the oldest known organisms
dinosaurs have not existed since the beginning of Earth's history
Explanation
The answer is "no human fossils can be found" because prehistoric humans are able to be seen in the fossil record.
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
The image above shows the rock layers in Zion National Park. Which of the following layers contains the oldest fossils?
the Carmel Formation
the Moenave Formation
the Kayenta Formation
the Kaibab Formation
Explanation
The answer is "the Kaibab Formation" because it is the bottom-most layer of rock and therefore the oldest.
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
Which part of the fossil record best provides evidence in support of Darwin's Theory of Evolution?
the presence of transitional fossils
the presence of marine fossils on land
the absence of fossils at the KT Boundary event
the absence of fossils in the ocean
Explanation
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.
An index fossil is a fossil of an organism that only existed for a short time in geologic history. How might these fossils be useful to scientists?
Because index fossils only existed for a short time, they can be used as a marker to identify the time period of a rock layer.
Index fossils are evidence of major extinction events because they appear and go extinct relatively quickly.
Index fossils show an evolutionary transition from one species into the next.
Because index fossils only existed for a short time in geologic history, they are used as markers for volcanic eruptions.
Explanation
The answer is "Because index fossils only existed for a short time, they can be used as a marker to identify the time period of a rock layer."
Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.
One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.