Genesis 5:15

"When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared."  Genesis 5:15

According to the Qbible Jared means descendant.  It also notes that the word used that is translated as "became the father of" could also be translated to "show lineage" which doesn't necessarily mean that these men mentioned in this genealogy were direct descendants of each other.  It's possible that there are gaps in the line. 

It makes you wonder if that is the case, how did they decide who to include and who to skip.  Is it just a case of this guy did something memorable in our history or was an important figure that everyone knew who they were so we all remembered their names but not the ones in between?  Like if someone were to ask me about the royal line of England.  I could probably list a few and know who was descended from who, but not be able to list every generation.

Or this could be a literal genealogy where "became the father of" means "became the father of."  Does it really matter now if there were gaps or not?