Fossils!

Essential Question What are fossils? How do fossils form? What are the different types of fossils?

Fossils Are preserved remains or traces of living things. Provide evidence of how life has changed over time.

How fossils form Most form when living things die and are buried by sediments Sediments slowly harden into rock and preserve the shapes of the organisms

Sedimentary rock Where fossils are usually found

Found Most found in animals and plants that lived in or near quiet water such as swamps, lakes, or shallow seas. Dies = hardens and only hard parts leave fossils

Found Fossils found in rock include molds and casts, petrified fossils, carbon films, and trace fossils. Others preserved in tar, amber or ice

Mold A fossil imprint made by the outside of a dead plant or animal Forms when hard part such as a shell is buried in sediment

Cast A fossil formed when sediments or minerals fill a mold; it takes on the same outside shape as the living thing that shaped the mold

Amber Hard translucent fossilized resin; typically yellowish in color

Trace fossils Provides evidence of the activities of ancient organism. Ex: fossil footprints, trails, and burrows

True Fossil Fossils of the actual animal or animal part

Paleontologists Collect and classify fossils

Fossil record Provides evidence about the history of life on earth Shows that groups of organisms have changed over time Shows fossils occur in a particular order

Extinct No longer exists and will never live on earth again