Transitional fossil — Science definition

A fossil that shows a mix of traits from an ancestral group and its descendants, documenting change between forms — such as Tiktaalik, between fish and four-legged animals.

Where it is taught

• Evidence for Evolution — Evolution, Ancestry & Biodiversity, Life Science: Biology, Grade 10

Taught alongside

• homologous structures
• analogous structures
• vestigial structure
• biogeography
• molecular evidence

Elsewhere

• All science terms
• All courses and reading

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