Fossil Assessment

What is fossil resin?

Fossil resin is known as amber. It is excreted from certain plants, which is thought to protect them from insects and seals wounds. The sticky resin captures insects and other invertebrates and fossilizes over time.

What is a fossil?

Fossils are any preserved remains or traces of plants, animals, and organisms from the remote past.

What are some examples of trace fossils?

Some examples of trace fossils are tracks, footprints, burrows, feces, and borings.

What are index fossils?

Index fossils are fossils of widely distributed organisms that lived in a short period of time.

What do index fossils tell geologists?

Index fossils indicate to goelogists the boundaries in geological time. They are a tool used to determine the age of rocks.

What type of rock and fossil dating gives precise age of rock and fossil?

Absolute age or radiometric dating is the most accurate form of dating. It gives the precise age of rocks and fossils.

What is the type of fossilization when the whole animal is preserved?

An animal can be trapped in tar and the whole body can be preserved. An example, is the LA Brea Tart Pits L.A. Freezing can also trap whole animals. Mammoth's bodies have been found with the skin, hair and even organs.

What is carbonization?

Carbonization is the process by which all substances of plants and animals decay except carbon. This leaves behind a carbon film on the sedimentary rock.

What is the relationship between rocks and fossils found in the same rock layer?

Fossils and the rock layer they are found in are approximately the same age.

What type of rock are fossils commonly found in?

Fossils are commonly found in sedimentary rocks, because sedimentary rocks form at low temperatures and pressure. Fossils are more common in some types of sedimentary rocks than others. For example, fossils are most common in limestone.

How do fossils support the Theory of Continental Drift?

Fossils support the Theory of Continental Drift, because fossils of the same plants and animals were found on different continents now separated by oceans. These organisms had no way of traveling across unless the continents were once, one supercontinent.

How are marine fossils found on top of mountains?

Marine fossils are found on mountain tops, because when continental plates collide, it causes an uplift. Finding marine fossils on tops of mountains suggests that the rock layers were once covered by water.

What does the fossil record tell scientists?

The fossil record shows scientist how organisms have evolved over time. Also, by using relative dating, absolute dating, and the fossil record scientists are able to put together the Earth's geologic history. Finally, the fossil record provides scientists evidence about the history of life on Earth.

What parts of the organism become fossils?

The hard parts of an organism like the bones, shells, teeth, seeds and woody stems usually become fossils rather than the soft parts, because the soft parts often decay quickly or are eaten by animals.

What are the three requirements for an organisms to become a fossil?

The three requirements for an organism to become a fossil is for it to be buried quickly, layers of sediments have to build up over the organism, and it has to be left for a long period of time.