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8 Sci Ch 5 Test 5
Term | Definition |
---|---|
5000-6000 | how many years ago did the Flood probably occur |
Archaeopteryx | supposed intermediate fossil that shows both reptile and bird characteristics |
australopithecine | "southern apes" |
big bang | supposed starting point of cosmic evolution |
Cambrian explosion | the sudden appearance of life in the fossil record |
carbon-14 dating | radiometric dating method used on organic materials |
catastrophism | the idea that one or more catastrophes are primarily responsible for Earth's geological features |
coelecanth | deep-sea fish thought to be the ancestor of the first amphibians |
cranial capacity | skull volume for brain |
Cuvier | scientist who first suggested that many catastrophes have shaped Earth's geological features |
Darwin | wrote On the Origin of Species |
eons, eras, periods and epochs | time periods into which evolutionists have divided the geologic column from longest to shortest |
evolution | the belief that the universe and life originated by natural processes over billions of years |
fossils | the preserved remains of plants , animals or human in sedimentary rock |
geologic column | hypothetical time scale that supposedly charts both the earth's history and the sequence of the rock layers in the earth's crust |
Homo erectus | Java man, "upright man" |
Homo habilis | chimpanzeelike "missing link" called "handy man" |
Homo sapiens | Scientific name for humans |
index fossil | a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found |
intermediates | another name for transitional forms |
Lucy | the most famous australopithecine |
Lyell | geologist who proposed the idea of uniformitarianism |
natural selection | idea that fittest and strongest of each species are more likely to survive and reproduce than weaker or unfit members of the species |
Neanderthal man | human "ancestor" who was fully human but probably had rickets |
nowhere | where in the earth's crust is the geologic column found it its entirety |
paleontology | study of fossils |
Peking man | fossil lost during World War II |
polystrate | A fossil that spans several layers of rock |
punctuated equilibrium | evolutionary hypothesis that states that new kinds of organisms arise quickly because of rapid genetic changes |
Ramapithecus | human "ancestor" reconstructed from a few teeth and bone fragments |
Seymouria | one of the supposed links between amphibians and reptiles |
Skull 1470 | badly crushed "Homo habilis" skull that scientists found in Kenya |
special creation | the belief, in accordance with the Book of Genesis, that every species was individually created by God in the form in which it exists today and is not capable of undergoing any change |
stasis | when an organism shows no change between its appearance in the fossil record and at the present day |
theistic evolution | one idea that attempts to reconcile the Bible and evolution |
Tiktaalik | supposed transitional fossil between fish and tetrapods. |
unconformity | term that refers to the gap formed when continuous strata are missing one of more layers |
uniformitarianism | false belief that all geological processes have always proceeded at the same rate |
uniformity | a principle that says that the same scientific laws in operation today have existed throughout the earth's history |
zero | number of times science can or have made an authoritative statement about the origin of earth |