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WABiologyQuick questions
Unit 3: Continuity of Species
Quick questions on Evidence for evolution: WACE Year 12 Biology
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the fossil record?Show answer
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of past organisms. Arranged by the age of the rock layers in which they are found, they show that life has changed over time, with simpler forms in older rocks and more complex or modern forms in younger rocks. Transitional fossils, which show features intermediate between groups, document the gradual change from one form to another. The fossil record is incomplete because fossilisation is rare, but the patterns it does show are consistent with evolution.
What is biogeography?Show answer
Biogeography is the study of where organisms live and why. Isolated regions tend to have unique organisms found nowhere else, which makes sense if those organisms evolved in isolation from a few ancestral colonisers.
What are linking evidence to the mechanisms?Show answer
The evidence for evolution and the mechanisms of evolution fit together. Natural selection, drift, gene flow and speciation explain how change happens; fossils, anatomy, biochemistry and biogeography are the record of that change having happened. Understanding both means you can explain not only that species share ancestry but how and why their gene pools diverged over time.
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