READ: Evidence for Evolution

Vocabulary

embryo

An animal or plant in its earliest stages of development, before it is born or hatched.

embryology

The study of how organisms develop.

fossil

The preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the distant past; examples include bones, teeth, impressions, and leaves.

fossil record

Fossils and the order in which fossils appear; provides important records of how species have evolved, divided and gone extinct.

genetics

The scientific study of heredity.

genome

All of the genes in an organism.

paleontologists

Scientists who study fossils to learn about life in the past.

radiometric dating

A method to determine the age of rocks and fossils in each layer of rock; measures the decay rate of radioactive materials in each rock layer.

vestigial structure

Body part that has lost its use through evolution, such as a whale’s pelvic bones.