Verified
species richness - the number of different species in a community
mass extinction events - the extinction of a large proportion of the world's species in a very short time
period due to some extreme and rapid change or catastrophic event.
Fossil - A trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock.
radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) - unstable isotopes that result from natural radioactive decay
Pangea - term for the super continent which contained all the plates together
geological timeline - A system of chronological dating that relates physical strata to time
Precambrian - Name for the time in earths early history that accounts for ninety percent of earth's time,
but only cellular organisms lived.
Paleozoic - an era occurring between 570 million and 230 million years ago, characterized by the advent
of fish, insects, and reptiles
Mesozoic - Age of reptiles
Cenozoic - geologic time period that began 65 million years ago and continues today
Biodiversity - the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Phylogeny - Evolutionary history of a species