Looking at Fossils

Earth Science 3.4

Objectives:
1. Describe five ways that different types of

fossils form.
2. List three types of fossils that are not
part of organisms.
3. Explain how fossils can be used to
determine the history of changes in
environments and organisms.
4. Explain how index fossils can be used to
date rock layers.

Fossilized Organisms
Fossil
The trace or remains of an organism that lived

long ago, most commonly preserved in

sedimentary rock.
Most often preserved in sedimentary rock, but other

materials can also preserve evidence of past life.

Fossils in Rocks
When an organism dies, it either begins to decay
or is consumed by other organisms. Sometimes
dead organisms are quickly buried by sediment,
which slows down decay.
Shells and bones are more resistant to decay than soft

tissues, so when sediments become rock, the harder

structures are more commonly preserved.

Fossils in Amber
Organisms occasionally become trapped in soft,
sticky tree sap, which hardens and becomes amber.
Insect fossils have often been preserved in this way,
but frogs and lizards have also been found in amber.
Petrifaction
Process in which minerals replace and organisms

tissues.
Permineralization
Process in which the pore space in an organisms hard

tissue is filled up with mineral.

Replacement
Process in which an organisms tissues are completely

replaced by minerals.

Fossils in Asphalt
There are places where asphalt wells up at the
Earths surface. These thick, sticky pools can trap
and preserve organisms.
Frozen Fossils
Since cold temperatures slow down decay, many

types of fossils have been found preserved in ice.

Other Types of Fossils

Trace Fossils
Naturally preserved evidence of animal activity
Examples:
Preserved animal tracks
Preserved burrows or shelters that were made by animals
Coprolite, which is preserved animal dung.

Molds and Casts are two more examples of

fossils.
Mold
mark or cavity made in a sedimentary surface by a shell or

other body.

Cast
type of fossil that forms when sediments fill the cavity left

by a decomposed organism.

Using Fossils to Interpret the Past

The Information in the Fossil Record
Offers only a rough sketch of the history of life on Earth.
Incomplete because most organisms never became
fossils.
Scientists know more information about organisms that had

hard body parts and that lived in environments that

favored fossilization.

History of Environmental Changes

The fossil record reveals changes in an areas climate
over time.
By using the fossils of plants and land animals, scientists can

reconstruct past climates.

History of Changing Organisms

By studying the relationships between fossils, scientists
can interpret how life has changed over time.

Using Fossils to Date Rocks

Scientists have learned that particular types of

fossils appear only in certain layers of rock.

By dating the rock layers above and below
these fossils
Scientists can determine the time span in which the

organisms that formed the fossils lived.

If a type of organism existed for only a short

period of time, its fossils would show up in a

limited range of rock layers.
These fossils are called index fossils.

Index fossils
Found in the rock layers of only one geologic age, and
can be used to establish the age of the rock layers.

Ammonites
Tropites, a marine mollusk similar to a modern

squid, lived between 230 million and 208 million

years ago.
Trilobites
Fossils of a genus of trilobites called Phacops are

another example of an index fossil.

Trilobites are extinct and lived approximately 400
million years ago.
When scientists find Phacops in a rock, they assume

that the rock is approximately 400 million years old.