Something provides evidence for evolution when it demonstrates a change in characteristics from an ancestral form.
Fossils A fossil is the preserved remains or traces of any organism from the remote past.
The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, is referred to as the fossil record
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Law of Fossil Succession
Fossils can be dated by determining the age of the rock layer (strata) in which the fossil is found
Different kinds of organisms are found in rocks of particular ages in a consistent order, indicating a sequence of development
This chronological sequence of complexity by which characteristics appear to develop is known as the law of fossil succession
Fossils can be dated by determining the age of the rock layer (strata) in which the fossil is found
- Sedimentary rock layers develop in a chronological order, such that lower layers are older and newer strata form on top
- Each strata represents a variable length of time that is classified according to a geological time scale (eons, eras, periods)
Different kinds of organisms are found in rocks of particular ages in a consistent order, indicating a sequence of development
- Prokaryotes appear in the fossil record before eukaryotes
- Ferns appear in the fossil record before flowering plants
- Invertebrates appear in the fossil record before vertebrate species
This chronological sequence of complexity by which characteristics appear to develop is known as the law of fossil succession
- This ordered succession of fossils suggests that newer species likely evolved as a result of changes to ancestral species
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