fossil record
Ancient life's evidence
The fossil record is the totality of fossilized remains preserved in Earth's rock layers, documenting the history of life across geological time.
Paleontologists study the fossil record to trace evolutionary lineages and mass extinctions.
Gaps in the fossil record—where expected transitional forms are missing—have historically fueled debates about evolution, though many such gaps have since been filled.
Species changing over generations
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
mass extinction · Cambrian explosion · natural selection · descent · lineage · divergence · biodiversity · tree of life
Study of rock layers
- rock layersSuperimposed geological deposits
- sedimentationParticles settling in liquid
- geochronologyStudy of geological ages
- carbon datingIsotope-based age measurement
radioactive decay · petrification · mineralization · core samples · geological time · sedimentary rock · deposition · dating methods
Extinct prehistoric reptiles
- trilobitesExtinct marine arthropods
- ammonitesExtinct coiled-shell cephalopods
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
- mastodonExtinct elephantine Pleistocene mammal
pterosaur · ichthyosaur · mammoth · archaeopteryx · coelacanth · brachiopods · early hominids · prehistoric life
evolution
Species changing over generations
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
phylogeny · mass extinction · Cambrian explosion · natural selection · descent · lineage · divergence · biodiversity · tree of life · missing link
stratigraphy
Study of rock layers
- rock layersSuperimposed geological deposits
- sedimentationParticles settling in liquid
- geochronologyStudy of geological ages
carbon dating · radioactive decay · petrification · mineralization · core samples · geological time · sedimentary rock · deposition · dating methods · strata
dinosaurs
Extinct prehistoric reptiles
- trilobitesExtinct marine arthropods
- ammonitesExtinct coiled-shell cephalopods
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
mastodon · pterosaur · ichthyosaur · mammoth · archaeopteryx · coelacanth · brachiopods · early hominids · prehistoric life · invertebrates
- Biology HistoryDarwin, Mendel, evolution, natural selection, cell theory
- macroevolutionmacroevolution, speciation, extinction, common descent, phylogeny
- evolutionevolution, natural selection, mutation, adaptation, speciation
- fossilsdinosaur bones, ammonite, amber, ammonites, brachiopod
- originsbeginning, birth, creation, source, roots
- anthropologyanthropology, fieldwork, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology
record, fossil, fossils, fossilized, fossilize, fossilization, fossilizing, fossilise, fossilising