Fossils

1. Fossils By: Mr. Meringolo

2. Questions • What are fossils? • Name three ways organisms can be preserved • What is a trace fossil? Give two examples. • What is a fossil record • Name three things about what fossils tell us.

3. How do organisms become preserved as fossils? • Fossils- the trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock. • Fossils may be found as: Skeletons or body parts Shells Burrows Ancient Coral Reefs

4. How Organismsare preserved • Amber is formed when hardened tree sap is buried and preserved in sediment. • Organisms such as insects can get caught in tree sap and over time, the tree sap hardens, preserving the organism.

5. How Organismsare preserved • Many fossils can also be preserved in asphalt from places where asphalt wells up at Earth’s surface.

6. How Organisms are preserved • Organisms can be buried by sediment when they die. The hard parts of the organisms, such as shells and bones do not break down as easily as other parts and become preserved when the sediment hardens.

7. How Organisms are preserved • In very cold places on Earth, an animal that dies may become frozen. The cold temperatures slow down the decay of the animal. • Many types of frozen fossils are preserved from the last ice age.

8. Trace Fossils • Trace Fossil- A fossilized structure that formed in sedimentary rock by animal activity on or in soft sediment. • An example of a trace fossil would be the tracks made by dinosaurs or other animals in soft sediment that later becomes hard. These tracks tell a lot about the animal and how it lived such as how big it was, was fast it moved, and how it migrated. • Burrows are another of trace fossil. Burrows are pathways or shelters made by animals such as clams on the sea floor or rodents on land that dig in sediment.

9. Trace Fossils

10. What can fossils tell us. • Fossil record- All of the fossils that have been discovered on Earth • The fossil record shows part of the history of life on earth. • Fossils can also tell us a lot about environmental changes that have occurred over time. For example, fish fossils indicate that an aquatic environment was present whereas palm fronds mean that a tropical environment was present. • Fossils can tell us how life forms have changed over time, Earth’s environmental conditons and surface can influence an organism’s survival and the type of adaptions that species must have made to survive.