Other+evidence+of+Change


 * Scientists long ago began to compare the __body structure__ of living species to better understand organisms.
 * An organisms body structure is its based body plan, such as how its bones are arranged.
 * Body parts that are structureally similar in related species are called homologous structures.
 * Evidence supports from homologous structures and leads scienttists to propose that whales and humans share a common ancestor.
 * Scientists also make inferences about evolutionary relationships by comparing the early development of different organisms.
 * When scientists study early development more closely, they notice that the turtle appears more similar to the chicken that it does to rats. Therefore, scientists infer that turtles are more closely related to chickens than they are to rats.
 * Scientists infer that the species inherited many of the same genes from a common ancestor.
 * The scientists that infer that the more similar the sequences of nitrogen bases, the more closely related the species are.
 * DNA bases along a gene specify what type of protein will be produces.
 * Recently, scientists have developed techniques that allow them to extract, or remove, DNA from fossils. The DNA from fossils have provided scientists with new info about DNA similarities among fossils and today's organisms.
 * Scientists have comboined evidence from fossils, body structures, early development, and DNA and protein sequences to infer evolutionary relationships among species.
 * Another example of how scientists combined evidence from different sources is shown on Branching Trees.
 * A branching tree is a diagram that shows how scientists think different groups of organisms are related.