BSCI 1511 Chapter Notes - Chapter 25: Exaptation, Gene Duplication, Plate Tectonics

• School: Vanderbilt University
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BSCI 1511
• Professor: Johnson Carl

Document Summary

Macroevolution: broad pattern of evolution above the species level. Based on strata in accumulated sedimentary rock, insects preserved in amber, and mammals frozen in ice. Radiometric dating to find absolute ages, based on decay of radioactive isotopes and their half-life, carbon dating works up until 75,000 yrs. Can look at bones to see common morphology between mammals and tetrapods. Standard time scale that divides earth"s history into four eons (hadean, archaean, Proterozoic, phanerozoic) the last eon is divided into three eras (paleozoic, mesozoic, and. First single-celled organism: stromatolites, layered rocks that form when certain prokaryotes bind thin films of sediment together, found in marine bays. First eukaryotes: have more organization than prokaryotes, endosymbiont theory thought that prokaryotes were taken into eukaryotes. Multicellularity: first came algae and soft bodied ediacaran biota, multicelled, then came some sponges, cambrian explosion: gave rise to predators with claws, shells and other organisms with spines, heavy armor in the prey.