Vocabulary crossword

3. time the average time between two consecutive generations in the lineages of a population.
5. a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
8. the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.
12. time scale a system of chronological dating that relates geology
13. the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
15. era lasted about 180 million years, and is divided into three periods, the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous.
17. dating the science of determining the relative order of past events
18. the state or process of a species, family, or larger group being or becoming extinct.

1. time extends from about 4.6 billion years ago (the point at which Earth began to form) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, 541 million years ago.
2. a group of living organisms
4. era lasted from 544 to 245 million years ago
6. record to refer to the total number of fossils that have been discovered, as well as to the information derived from them.
7. breeding the intentional mating of two animals in an attempt to produce offspring with desirable characteristics or for the elimination of a trait.
9. era geologic time, from about 65 million years ago to the present.
10. selection the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
11. dating the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating
14. a distinguishing quality or characteristic, typically one belonging to a person.
16. tectonics a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.