Chapter 22.3 - The Fossil Record

Question 1

Extra:
What are fossils?

Answer 1

A fossil is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age.

Question 2

Extra:
What are some examples of fossils?

Answer 2

• Bones
• Shells
• Exoskeletons
• Stone imprints of animals or microbes
• Objects preserved in amber
• Hair

Question 3

Textbook:
What information can fossils give us?

Answer 3

Fossils allow us to date key events in evolutionary history.

Question 4

Textbook:
What is an example of information that fossils can give us?

Answer 4

We can infer that birds and crocodiles had a common ancestor; however, fossils can tell us that their common ancestor existed approx. 240 million years ago.

Question 5

Extra:
What are divergence time estimations?

Answer 5

It is the process of determining when two or more species or populations shared a common ancestor based on genetic, molecular, or fossil evidence.

Question 6

Textbook:
How can divergence time estimations be made?

Answer 6

They can be made using molecular sequence data; all these estimates can be pinpointed to a time in history only by using fossils.

Question 7

Textbook: