Biology - In what state did scientist find a treasure trove of fossils

Biology Question

The links to the videos are: Its Okay To Be Smart “The 12 Days of Evolution – Complete Series) https://www.pbs.org/video/its-okay-be-smart-evol-full/ Links to an external site. Rise of the Mammals – Nova (53:16) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7n7h80 Links to an external site. Questions for the assigned videos are:

1. In what state did scientist find a treasure trove of fossils from the time that mammals began to become the dominant form of life on earth?

2. During the age of the dinosaurs Mammals existed during the age of the dinosaur. How big were mammals during this period?

3. What happened 66 million years ago that set the stage for the future dominance of mammals? Where did this event occur?

4. Why do we know so little about our earliest ancestors?

5. In what type of rock was a key fossil to mammal history found?

6. Why do descendants from a common an ancestor often look different from each other and the common an ancestor?

7. What are the few key features that all mammals share?

8. How did the team working on Coral Bluffs determine mammal evolutionary history over time period? The team determines that the bluffs provide a chronological period covering the first ___________________ years of early mammal history following the loss of the dinosaurs.

9. Why was studying pollen so important to identifying how mammals evolved in the Coral Bluffs area of Colorado?

10. How do scientist use fossil plants to reconstruct the insect community of the past?

11. What plant features do the scientist at Coral Bluffs use to determine historic climate conditions?

12. What are the five assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?

13. Briefly explain how natural selection leads to changes in allele frequencies over time in a population.

14. Briefly explain how adaptive radiation leads to micro- and macroevolution.