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| A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants. |
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| The analysis of the resemblances among clades, or groups of species that share a common ancester. |
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| A diagram depicting patterns of shared characteristics among taxa. |
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| The species that you are studying |
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| A principle that states that when considering multiple explanations for an observation, one should first investigate the simplest explanation that is consistent with the facts. |
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| An evolutionary timing method based on the observation that at least some regions of genomes evolve at constant rates. |
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| The comparison of nucleic acids or other molecules in different species to infer relatedness. |
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| Pertaining to a taxon derived from a single ancestral species that gave rise to no species in any other taxa. |
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| a species or group of species that is closely related to the ingroup, the various species being studied |
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| Pertaining to a taxon that excludes some members that share a common ancestor with members included in the taxon. |
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| A branching diagram that represents a hypothesis about evolutionary relationships. |
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| The evolutionary history of a species or group of related species. |
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| A phylogenetic tree in which the lengths of the branches reflect the number of genetic changes that have taken place in a particular DNA or RNA sequence in the various lineages. |
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| In classification, the taxonomic category above class. |
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| Pertaining to a taxon whose members were derived from two or more ancestral forms not common to all members. |
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| An evolutionary novelty unique to a particular clade. |
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| Shared primitive character |
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| A character displayed in species outside a particular taxon. |
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| The analytical study of the diversity and relationships of organisms, both present-day and extinct. |
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| (plural, taxa) The named taxonomic unit at any given level. |
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| A set of characteristics used to assess the similarities and differences between various species, leading to a classification scheme; the branch of biology concerned with naming and classifying the diverse forms of life. |
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| A phylogenetic tree in which the lengths of the branches reflect measurements of geologic time. |
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| The division of Earth’s history into periods, grouped into five eras: Archaean, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The periods in the Cenozoic era are further divided into epochs. |
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| The number of years it takes for 50% of an original sample of an isotope to decay. |
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| The supercontinent formed near the end of the Paleozoic era when plate movements brought all the landmasses of Earth together. |
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| An aggregate of abiotically produced molecules surrounded by a membrane or membrane-like structure. |
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| A method paleontologists use for determining the ages of rocks and fossils on a scale of absolute time, based on the half-life of radioactive isotopes. |
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| An enzymatic RNA molecule that catalyzes reactions during RNA splicing. |
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| A model of the origin of eukaryotes that proposes that mitochondria, chloroplasts, and perhaps other cellular structures were formerly small prokaryotes that lived symbiotically inside larger cells. |
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| The hypothesis that glaciers covered the planet’s landmasses from pole to pole 750–570 million years ago. |
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| A fossilized bacterial mat. Some stromatolites were formed 3.5 billion years ago. |
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| A system of taxonomic classification based on three basic groups: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. |
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| A type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles; found only in the domains Bacteria and Archaea. |
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| A type of cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles, present in protists, plants, fungi, and animals |
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| Containing oxygen; referring to an organism, environment, or cellular process that requires oxygen. |
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| Lacking oxygen; referring to an organism, environment, or cellular process that lacks oxygen and may be poisoned by it. |
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| The incorrect notion that life can emerge from inanimate material |
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| a period of time marked by distinctive character, events, etc |
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| a round of time marked by the recurrence of some phenomenon or occupied by some recurring process or action. |
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| a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc |
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| Any of several events in the Earth's past in which large numbers of species (in some cases, up to eighty percent) became extinct |
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| theory of global tectonics in which the lithosphere is divided into a number of crustal plates, each of which moves on the plastic asthenosphere more or less independently to collide with, slide under, or move past adjacent plates |
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| One of two prokaryotic domains, the other being Bacteria |
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| One of two prokaryotic domains, the other being Archaea |
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| diversity among and within plant and animal species in an environment. |
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| The two-part latinized name of a species, consisting of genus and specific epithet |
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| The domain that includes all eukaryotic organisms |
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