History of Life on Earth quiz Flashcards

Adaptive radiation is the process by which organisms rapidly diversify into new forms, often in response to changes in the environment that create new niches.

Adaptive radiations often follow mass extinctions, allowing surviving species to diversify and fill new niches.

The Cambrian Explosion was a period of rapid evolutionary diversification where most major animal groups appeared.

The three domains of life are Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

The endosymbiotic theory suggests that eukaryotic cells originated through a symbiotic relationship where one cell engulfed another, leading to the formation of organelles like mitochondria.

Aerobic respiration requires oxygen to produce energy, while anaerobic respiration does not use oxygen and produces less energy.

Precambrian time encompasses the period from Earth's formation to the appearance of most animal groups, characterized by the dominance of unicellular life and the absence of oxygen.

Binomial nomenclature is the system of naming organisms using two terms: the genus name (capitalized) and the species name (lowercase), both italicized or underlined.

A phylogenetic tree is a branching diagram that shows the inferred evolutionary relationships among species based on their genetic and morphological characteristics.

The 10% rule states that only about 10% of the energy at one trophic level is transferred to the next level in a food chain.

Homologous structures are similar due to shared ancestry, while analogous structures are similar due to convergent evolution, not common ancestry.