1. Fossil Record
-Fossils are the preserved remains of organisms and where they exist in the earth is known as the fossil record
-Analysis of the fossil record shows the major events in the history of life on earth (aka macroevolution), as opposed to small changes in genes and chromosomes that occur within a single population (aka microevolution)

2. Fossil Record
-Fossils found further down in the Earth are considered to be older and fossils found closer to the surface are considered to be younger; thus we can know the relative ages of fossils
-other ways we can know the ages of fossils

3. Fossil Record
-The study of biological diversity from the fossil record is generally limited to the study of the differences among species instead of the differences within a species
-Biological diversity within a species is difficult to study because DNA is hard to obtain from fossils

4. Fossil Record
-Speciation is most dramatic after the appearance of novel characteristics, such as feathers and wings, or after a mass extinction that has cleared the way for new species to live in newly uninhabited places

5. Fossil Record
-An explosion in the diversity of life following mass extinctions are marked by the four eras in the geologic time scale:
Precambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic

6. Fossil Record
-Extinction is inevitable in a changing world, but examples of mass extinction from the fossil record coincide with rapid global environmental changes
-During the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Permian period, most marine invertebrate species disappeared with the loss of their coastal habitats
-During the Cretaceous period, a climatic shift to cooler temperatures because of diminished solar energy coincided with the extinction of dinosaurs

7. What Happened?
Look at the picture below and develop an evolutionary story about what may have been going on through time.