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| A scientist who studies fossils and the history of life |
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| Mineralized remains or imprint of once living organism |
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| Continueous process by which one rock type changes into another rock type |
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| Determining whether an object is older or younger than another based on position in the rock record. |
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| Estimating the age by determining the number of unstable radiometric atoms in a sample and comparing it to the number of stable decay atoms. |
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| the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay from unstable to stable. |
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| division of earth's history into distinct intervals of time characterized by particulary life forms. |
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| Describes a species that has completely died out. |
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| a period when a large number of species die out at the same time. |
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| began with Earth's formation (4.6 bya) and ended when complex organisms appeared (540 mya) |
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| Began when complex organisms appeared (540 mya) and ended with a mass extinction (248 mya) |
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| began 248 mya and lasted until 65 mya (Age of the Reptiles) |
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| A unifying explanation for hypotheses and observations supported by testing |
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| Began 65 mya and continues to the present day (Age of Mammals) |
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| Long term weather patterns. |
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| The Age of Mammals refers to the ___________ Era |
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| The Age of the Reptiles refers to the ______________ Era |
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| Plants colonized dry land during the _________ Era |
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| Scientists estimate the age of the Earth to be about ___________years old. |
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| Plants and air-breathing animals appeared during the ___________ Era. |
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| Some scientist estimate that life on Earth began _______________ years ago. |
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