biochemical evidence for evolution lab 12 answers

Since sharks and dolphins live in the water in similar climates and areas, they have a similar niche which needs to be filled by something in that area. Species adapt to their environments in order to fill a vacant niche. So why do they look so much alike if they are not related? Dolphins are actually much more closely related to humans than they are sharks. WikipedianProlific/Wikimedia Commons ( CC-BY-SA-3.0)Įven though a dolphin and a shark look very similar in body shape, size, color, and fin location, they are not closely related to the phylogenetic tree of life. There most likely are also many undiscovered fossils that could fill in some of the gaps. Fossils are very hard to create and circumstances need to be just right in order for a dead or decaying organism to become a fossil. While some opponents of evolution say that the fossil record is actually evidence of no evolution because there are “missing links” in the fossil record, it does not mean evolution is untrue. This can help fill in gaps in the knowledge of how a species changed from one time period to another throughout the Geologic Time Scale. They may use relative dating and radiometric or absolute dating to find the age of the fossil. Scientists can use information from the fossils to place the intermediate forms in the right place. Not only does it give us clues to organisms that are long extinct, but it also can show intermediate forms of species as they underwent speciation. How do fossils lend evidence in support of the Theory of Evolution? Bones, teeth, shells, imprints, or even entirely preserved organisms can paint a picture of what life was in time periods from long ago. Traces of life from the past are called fossils.

Biochemical evidence for evolution lab 12 answers