Evolution Vocabulary

2. Name of radioactive element used to date fossils up to 50,000 years old
3. Length of time it takes for half of a radioactive substance to decay
8. Type of fossil dating in which the exact age of a fossil is estimated using the decay rate of radioactive isotopes
11. The process of organisms evolving to become more and more fit for their environment is called ___ selection
12. Coloring or patterns that help an organism blend into their surroundings
14. Traits can be inherited from parents to offspring
15. Type of fossil dating in which the age of different rock layers is compared
16. Anatomically different structures of unrelated organisms that have the same function
17. Changes to DNA that cause variation in a population
19. Pre-birth form of an organism (i.e., egg)
20. Molecular evidence of evolution

1. Preserved traces of a once-living organism (e.g., bone casts, footprints, amber, etc.)
3. Anatomically similar structures inherited from a common ancestor
4. Humans have bred crops and animals to have desired traits using selective breeding, aka ___ selection
5. Study of the geographic distribution of organisms
6. An inherited trait that increases the fitness of an organism, therefore becoming more common in a population
7. Scientist who discovered natural selection
9. Reduced, no longer useful forms of structures that indicate shared ancestry
10. Change in a population over time
13. The ability to survive and reproduce
18. Title of Charles Darwin's famous book, The ___ of Species