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What is a fossil?

A fossil is the preserved remains or trace of a once living organism of a past geological age.
Fossils of preserved remains can be:
  • Skeletons - such as bones of dinosaurs
  • Imprints - such as those of plant leaves on shale
  • Fossil Wood - in which the internal structure and external bark are well preserved due to
    permineralization
  • Microfossils - fossils of organisms that can not be easily analyzed with the naked eye. Generally defined as fossils < 1mm
  • Resin - fossilized sap from trees which can trap and encase an organism. Often times referred to as "amber"
  • Casts - a hole left by a decomposed organism this has been filled in with another mineral,
    taking the general shape of the past organism
  • Molds - a rock in which an organism-shaped hole (made from a decomposed organism) is
    visible


Trace fossils are evidence left of past animal behavior. Some examples include:
  • Tracks - left by the movement of an animal; such as dinosaur
    footprints
  • Burrows - tunnels left by the movement of a digging
    organism
  • Coprolites - fossil feces used to study the dietary
    habits of a past organism

Index fossils (sometimes called guide fossils) are a special category of fossils that only occur in a specific location(s), therefore are often used to identify and define specific geologic periods (or faunal stages).

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