Year 10 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 13

Evidence for Evolution, Fossils and Anatomy

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Learning Goals

Warm Up

Because… chain

Fill in the missing effects. Each cause leads to the next step in the fossilisation-to-evolution story.

An organism dies in or near water
→
Sediment layers build up over millions of years
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Scientists use the position of a fossil in rock layers (relative dating) to estimate its age
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Transitional forms are discovered at a boundary layer
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Overall outcome, what does this sequence tell us about evolution?

Your Turn

Real-world context

In 2004, Canadian palaeontologist Neil Shubin discovered Tiktaalik roseae in Arctic Canada. The fossil dates to approximately 375 million years ago and shows a creature with fish-like scales, gills and fins, but also a neck, ribs, and fin bones that could support body weight like a limb. Shubin's team predicted they would find this transitional form in rocks of that age, and they were right. The Riversleigh fossil deposits in Queensland similarly document 25 million years of Australian marsupial evolution.

(a) Using Tiktaalik as your example, explain how transitional fossils support the theory of evolution. Name the two groups it links.

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(b) Why is the fact that Shubin predicted where to find Tiktaalik significant for the scientific strength of evolutionary theory?

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Show What You Know

1. Explain the difference between relative dating and absolute dating of fossils. What information does each method provide?

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2. The Flinders Ranges in South Australia contain a 560-million-year-old fossil called Dickinsonia. How does finding such fossils in specific rock layers support the idea that life evolved from simpler to more complex forms over time?

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Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?

HSCScience · Year 10 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 13 · Apply Worksheet