LibGuides: VCE Biology Unit 4: Changes in biodiversity

Online Resources

Completing the Puzzle:Rocks, Fossils, and Time
Geology resources for students and teachers
Dating dinosaurs and other fossils
Relative dating methods are used to work out the chronological sequence of fossils. They can be applied to fossils found at a particular site and can also be ..
The Evolution of Life
The evolution of life is organised into 20 sections referring to their biological and geological significance
Geologic time
The geologic time scale is the “calendar” for events in Earth history. It subdivides all time into named units of abstract time called—in descending order of duration—eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages.
Principles of Geology, Vols 1-3
Principles of Geology, Vols 1-3
The book was influential, not least on the young graduate Charles Darwin, who was given Volume 1 of the first edition by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, just before they set out (December 1831) on their voyage on the Beagle.
Radiometric dating methods
In geology, an absolute age is a quantitative measurement of how old something is, or how long ago it occurred, usually expressed in terms of years. Most absolute age determinations in geology rely on radiometric methods.
Reference Websites by Geological Time Period
List of useful reference websites
The Pleistocene Epoch (1.6 million-10,000 years ago)
The Pleistocene was the time of the giants, when megafauna roamed the landscape. Australia was close to its current position, but sea levels were much lower. Humans may have first arrived in Australia during this time.
Evidence for evolution
Evidence for evolution: anatomy, molecular biology, biogeography, fossils, & direct observation.
Evidence of evolution - rock fossils
A fossil is the preserved remains of a dead organism from millions of years ago. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from:
12.3 History of Earth’s Life Forms
Describe the general development of Earth's life forms over the last 540 million years.
Patterns of Evolution
Just as no man is an island, neither is any bird, insect, plant, or mammal.
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Many species live in close relationships with others, affecting each others ways of life. It seems logical to think that species that live closely with each other might evolve in adaptation to each other. This logic is extremely difficult to prove, since it requires direct proof of evolution in not one but two species. However, there is ample evidence to suggest that coevolution does take place
Fossil Record
Fossil Record Definition

Images

GSA GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE v. 5.0

Diversity of marine animals over geologic time

Revision

Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the total variation between all living things and can be measured to help identify species that need to be supported. Threats to biodiversity have adverse effects on the ecosystem.
Practice Biodiversity
Quizz

Online Videos

This video provides an overview of the history of the theory of evolution. Perfect for biology lesson plans at all levels, this short film is sure to educate and entertain students

More videos

By looking at the layers beneath our feet, geologists have been able to identify and describe crucial episodes in life’s history. These key events frame the chapters in the story of life on earth and the system we use to bind all these chapters together is the Geologic Time Scale.

This video explains how does a geologist know how old a rock formation is.

An overview of the different types of evidence that support evolution, including homologous and analogous ...

Hank gets real with us in a discussion of evolution - it's a thing, not a debate. Gene distribution changes over time, across successive generations, to give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization.

News / Researches

How Do We Know the Earth Is 4.6 Billion Years Old?
We know the Earth is old. But how do we know its age?
How Science Figured Out the Age of Earth
For centuries scholars sought to determine Earth’s age, but the answer had to wait for careful geologic observation, isotopic analyses of the elements and an understanding of radioactive decay
Radiometric Dating
Radiometric dating methods were developed in the twentieth century, and have revolutionized Quaternary Science. In 1902, physicists Ernest Rutherford and ...
Evolution of life in the ocean changed 170 million years ago
New research identifies a previously overlooked global event which changed the course of the evolution of life in the oceans. It coincided with a rise in calcium carbonate-secreting plankton and their subsequent deposition on the ocean floor.
Study sheds light on the evolution of the earliest dinosaurs
Geological evidence suggests the known dinosaur groups diverged early on, supporting the traditional dinosaur family tree.
Ancient Australia was home to strange marsupial giants, some weighing over 1,000 kg
Palorchestid marsupials, an extinct group of Australian megafauna, had strange bodies and lifestyles unlike any living species.
Cambrian Period: Facts & Information
The end of the Cambrian Period is marked by evidence in the fossil record of a mass extinction event about 490 million years ago.
New Earth Epoch Has Begun, Scientists Say
Our 4.57-billion-year-old planet may know the feeling. After all, some scientists are suggesting Earth has already entered a new age—several million years earlier than it should have.
Fossil Record
Fossil records and palaeoecological samples provide important historical data for analyzing the long-term ecological impacts of biological invasions. However, geological records are usually not sensitive to short-term changes, and thus other methods are needed for documenting impacts over timescales of years to decades
Discoveries at Lake Turkana
Video. Discoveries at Lake Turkana reveal information about the history of human evolution.
Fossil jawbone from Alaska is a rare case of a juvenile Arctic dromaeosaurid dinosaur
This fossil is a clue to the history of how dinosaurs dispersed between continents, showing some dinosaurs likely nested in the far north
Study sheds light on the evolution of the earliest dinosaurs
Now an MIT geochronologist, along with paleontologists from Argentina and Brazil, has found evidence to support the classical view of dinosaur evolution. The team's findings are published today in the journal Scientific Reports.
Famous 'Jurassic Park' dinosaur is less lizard, more bird
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From movies to museum exhibits, the dinosaur Dilophosaurus is no stranger to pop culture. Many probably remember it best from the movie 'Jurassic Park,' where it's depicted as a venom-spitting beast with a rattling frill around its neck and two paddle-like crests on its head. But a new comprehensive analysis of Dilophosaurus fossils is helping to set the record straight, finding that the Dilophosaurus was actually the largest land animal of its time.
Ancient Antarctic sea monster may have laid this football-size egg
A mosasaur, an ancient reptile that lived during the Mesozoic, might have laid the newly described fossil egg found in Antarctica.
Fossils
Find out everything there is to know about fossils and stay updated on the latest fossil news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and fossil pictures
Scientists prove bird ovary tissue can be preserved in fossils
A research team led by Dr. Alida Bailleul from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has put one controversy to rest: whether or not remnants of bird ovaries can be preserved in the fossil record.

VCE Biology Unit 4: Changes in biodiversity