Glossary

Abiogenesis—The idea that life can spontaneously generate from non-life

Analogy—Correspondence in function or position between organs of dissimilar evolutionary origin or structure

Biogenesis—The idea that life can only come from life

Biogenetic Law—The theory that the stages in an organism’s embryonic development and differentiation correspond to the stages of evolutionary development characteristic of the species

Carnivore—A flesh-eating animal

Cosmology—The quantitative (usually mathematical) study of the universe in its totality and humanity’s place in it

Curator—The person in charge of a museum

Cynodont—Small carnivorous reptiles

DNA—Deoxyribonucleic acid. A nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all living organisms

Echolocation—A process of using sound waves and their reflection to locate objects

Ecosystem—An ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit

Endosymbiosis—The condition in which one of two dissimilar organisms lives inside the other

Epidermis—The outermost living layer of an animal

Estuary—The wide part of a river near the sea where fresh and salt water mix

Genome—A full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism

Habitat—The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives

Homology—A fundamental similarity based on common descent

Ichthyology—That branch of zoology dealing with fishes

Invertebrate—A creature that does not have a backbone

Kind—The original organisms (and their descendants) created supernaturally by God as described in Genesis 1 that reproduce only members of their own kind within the limits of pre-programmed information, but with great variation

Mammal—Any of various warm-blooded vertebrate animals characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young

Marine—Native to or inhabiting the sea

Marsupial—Mammals in which the female typically has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy

Materialism—The system of thought holding that the material world is all that there is

Monotreme—An order of egg-laying mammals restricted to Australia and New Guinea and consisting of only the platypus and the echidna

Naturalism—The system of thought holding that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations

Organelle—A specialized part of a cell having some specific function

Ornithologist—A person who studies birds

Placental—Mammals having a placenta—an organ that nourishes the developing young by receiving nutrients from the mother’s blood and passing out waste

Placoderms—Any of various extinct fishes, characterized by bony plates of armor covering the head and flanks, hinged jaws, and paired fins

Postcranial—Consisting of parts or structures behind the cranium

Symbiosis—A close interaction between creatures of two different species

Tetrapod—Any vertebrate having four limbs

Theropod—Any of various large carnivorous saurischian dinosaurs of the suborder Theropoda, characterized by bipedal locomotion, large jaws, and short forelimbs

Unconformity—A discontinuity in rock sequence indicating interruption of sedimentation, commonly accompanied by erosion of rocks below the break

Venomous—Having a gland or glands for secreting venom; able to inflict a poisoned bite, sting, or wound

Vertebrate—A creature that has a backbone