Life Science- Answers & Questions Exam Questions (15 Terms) With Verified Definitions Updated 2024

Explain how the shape of a finch's beack is an example of an adaptation. {Ans: The shape of a finch's beak helps the finch eat the food that is available, and thus it helps it survive and reproduce.}Describe the process by which most fossils form. {Ans: Most fossils form when organisms that die become buried in sediments. Over millions of years, the sediments harden into sedimentary rock. The hard parts of the dead organisms become fossils, including molds, casts, and petrified fossils.}Did crocodilians evolve from dinosaurs? Give evidence for your answer. {Ans: Scientists could compare the DNA of the two species to confirm an evolutionary relationship.}What is evolution? {Ans: Evolution is a gradual change in species over time.}How do helpful variations accumulate in a species over time? {Ans: Helpful variations accumulate through natural selection, as the organisms that are better adapted to their environment reproduce offspring with the same variations.}What evidence do scientists use to place events on this time line? {Ans: They use evidence from the fossil record as well as evidence from the absolute dating of rocks.}What is the fossil record, and why is it incomplete? {Ans: The millions of fossils