Chapter 17 Study Guide - Process of Fossilization - Major rock types: igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary - In which rock type do fossils tend to form? - Index Fossils & what they tell us - Law of Superposition = Relative Dating of Fossils - Absolute Dating - using Half-Life (you'd better be able to read half-life graph...) - Earth's Major Eras: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic - Paleozoic - the age of the Monster Amphibians - Mesozoic - the age of the Monster Reptiles & radiation of life forms(mammals finally appear) - Cenozoic - what marks the end of the Mesozoic era (think asteroid...) - Early Earth - atmosphere, what the place was like, chemicals... Suitable for life? - Age of the Earth & How we know (hint: absolute dating) - The Urey-Miller Experiment = origin of organic compounds needed for life - Protenoid Microspheres - how are these related to early cells...? - Endosymbiotic Theory - origin of eukaryotic cells and organelles (mitochondrion, chloroplast) Patterns of Evolution 1. extinction 2. adaptive radiation 3. convergent evolution 4. coevolution 5. gradualism vs. punctuated equilibrium (speeds of evolution) 6. gene mutation's role in evolution - ex. Hox Gene Mutations