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2 Introduction
What is a fossil?
A fossil is simply any evidence of ancient life, naturally preserved
within the materials that make up the Earth. Usually, the evidence is
found within a sedimentary rock – originally loose sediment such as
mud, silt, and sand – but other possibilities for entombment include
natural tars and resins (amber), or even ice.
There is no strict dividing line in
terms of age between recent organic
remains and fossils. As a rough
guide, most palaeontologists (people
who study fossils) would probably
consider any evidence of life over
about 10 000 years old to be a
fossil. The question of definition is
not usually an issue, however, as
most fossils are millions of years
old. Fossils are only common in
sedimentary rocks younger than
the start of the Cambrian Period,
542 million years ago, when
The Jurassic ammonite Psiloceras.
5.5 cm.
organisms first acquired the ability
to produce hard parts.
The fossil record is dominated by invertebrate animals with durable
shells or skeletons that lived in shallow seas (e.g. ammonites,
trilobites and corals). The land tends to be a site of net erosion, so the
opportunity for long-term burial is less than in shallow seas on the
edges of continents, where most sediment accumulates. In general,
fast but gentle burial, particularly in oxygen-poor environments,
favours good preservation. Vertebrates tend to be less abundant in
living populations than invertebrates, and so are relatively rare as
fossils, whether they lived in the sea (e.g. ichthyosaurs) or on land
(e.g. dinosaurs). Plants, living mainly on land, tend to be scarce as
fossils, as are animals from freshwater rivers and
lakes. Insects too, despite their abundance and
diversity, are rarely fossilised.
4 Introduction
Body fossils preserve something of the bodily remains of animals
or plants, such as shells, bones and leaves, or their impression in
the enclosing sediment. Parts of the body often become altered
in chemical composition and physical structure. Hard parts of
organisms, such as bones, teeth and shells often have tiny pores
(open spaces). When buried in sediment, these pores tend to be filled
with minerals, such as calcite and quartz, that crystallise out from
water seeping through the sediment, making the structure denser
than in life. The original hard parts of organisms, and more rarely
the soft parts, may be completely replaced by the growth of new
minerals.
Both the filling up of pores (permineralisation) and the replacement
of biological materials by minerals may occur in a single fossil.
Neither of these processes, which together are called petrifaction
– ‘turning into stone’ – has to occur for something to be called a
fossil; sometimes the fossil is still composed of the original, barely
altered shell or bone. The bodies of ancient plants are often preserved
as thin films of carbon, whereas, in life, plant tissues contain in
addition many other chemical elements.
The surface of a sedimentary rock surrounding or infilling a fossil
shell (or other body part) is called a mould. Usually, both internal and
external moulds are formed, recording impressions of the inside and
outside of the shell, respectively. If the shell becomes completely
dissolved away, a space is left between the internal mould and the
external mould. New minerals may fill this space, forming a crude
cast of the shell that lacks details of the shell’s original structure. In
general, casts are rarer than moulds.
Trace fossils preserve evidence of the
activity of animals, such as their tracks,
trails, burrows, borings or droppings.
They are often the only evidence we
have of extinct organisms whose bodies
lacked any hard parts (e.g. many types
of worm). Unlike body fossils, in which
the body may have been transported
after death a long way from where the
A pseudofossil. This plant-like original organism lived, most trace
pattern was formed by crystals of fossils are direct, in situ evidence of the
manganese oxide growing along a
crack in limestone. 3.5 cm.
environment at the time and place the
organism was living.
Sometimes one can be deceived into thinking an object is a fossil
when it is not. Pseudofossils are misleading structures, produced by
inorganic processes, that by chance look as if they are evidence of
ancient life.
Fossils are very useful for giving us information about ancient
environments and climates, for revealing the evolution
of life through time, and for matching up rocks of
similar age in different parts of the world. And were it
not for ancient life we would not have any fossil fuels
– coal, oil and natural gas.
5 Introduction
References
Here is just a small selection from the huge range of excellent books available.
Fossils. Cyril Walker and David Ward. 2000. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0751327964.
Fossils - the Key to the Past. Richard Fortey. 2002. Natural History Museum.
ISBN 0565091638.
Minerals, Rocks and Fossils. A. Bishop, A. Woolley, & W. Hamilton. 1999. Philip’s.
ISBN 0540074292.
The following handbooks from the Natural History Museum are exceptionally useful, with
drawings of the most commonly found British fossils from each era:
British Palaeozoic Fossils. (2001 reprint). Intercept. ISBN 1898298718.
British Mesozoic Fossils. (2001 reprint). Intercept. ISBN 1898298734.
British Caenozoic Fossils. (2001 reprint). Intercept. ISBN 1898298777.
Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank Dr Colin Scrutton
for helpful comments on this guide, and Dr Paul Taylor for advice
about bryozoans.
7 Sponges
Millions of yrs ago
Sponges are the simplest multicellular animals. They
0
lack definite tissues and organs, e.g. they have no
Quaternary
nervous system.
pores for
taking in
1.8
water
Cenozoic
Neogene
23
Palaeogene
Siphonia
stem Cretaceous
roots
Rhizopoterion 65
Cretaceous
roots Cretaceous
10 cm 12 cm
Age Mesozoic
146
Jurassic
Cambrian Period to present day.
Environment
200
Mainly marine, on the sea floor; some live in freshwater.
Triassic
Description
Sponges have a skeleton of calcium carbonate, silica, or, 251
as in some modern bath sponges, horny organic material.
Permian
from the Chalk. You can often find them by looking in flint
Palaeozoic
443
Ordovician
488
Cambrian
1.8
Cenozoic
Neogene
23 fan-shaped,
net-like colony
Palaeogene
Fenestella 3 cm across
Carboniferous
65 The apertures, which occur in two rows along the
branches, are not visible at this magnification.
Cretaceous
Hallopora 2 cm
apertures
0.1-0.2 mm
Silurian
across A cylindrical, branching colony
146 with large round apertures.
Mesozoic
5 mm
Jurassic
one
zooecium
200
Stomatopora aperture
Triassic
Jurassic 4 cm
An encrusting, thread-like
colony. irregular, leaf-like
251 colony
Permian
close up Metrarabdotos
1.5 mm across Neogene
299
Age
Ordovician Period to present day.
Carboniferous
Environment
Most live in shallow seas, some in freshwater. All aquatic.
359
Description
Devonian
Quaternary
Climacograptus Tetragraptus
Ordovician Ordovician
1.8
Cenozoic
Neogene
2 cm 1.5 cm 23
1.5 cm
Palaeogene
Dicellograptus
Ordovician
Monograptus 65
Silurian
Cretaceous
first-formed
part of colony 2 cm
146
tiny flattened cups Mesozoic
Jurassic
(thecae) in which
individuals of the
Cyrtograptus colony lived
Silurian 200
3 cm
Triassic
Age
251
Cambrian Period to Carboniferous Period.
Graptolites are relatively common in Ordovician and
Permian
Trace fossils
Trace fossils are evidence of animal activity, such
as footprints, trails, burrows, borings, bite marks or
droppings. They are often the only evidence we have of
extinct organisms whose bodies lacked any hard parts.
Even if the organism that made the trace had hard parts,
the culprit is rarely found at the scene. Most trace fossils
are classified by their shape, or by the type of behaviour Droppings from an
unknown Jurassic
represented, not the trace-maker, which can rarely be animal. This coprolite
identified with certainty. Sometimes an individual may (fossil dung) is preserved
make several different-looking traces, and the same- in iron pyrites. 13 cm.
looking trace may be made by several different types of
animal. See also the introduction (p.4).
calcite shell
shell
4 cm
pedicle (stalk)
sea floor 4 cm
Magellania Epithyris
A modern brachiopod in
Jurassic
life position
ribs
plane of
symmetry
growth
lines
2 cm
3 cm
Gibbithyris Tetrarhynchia
Cretaceous Jurassic
4 cm 18 cm
Antiquatonia Gigantoproductus
Carboniferous Carboniferous
3 cm
Lingula Dolerorthis
Carboniferous Silurian
12 Brachiopods
Millions of yrs ago
Brachiopods (pronounced ‘bracky-o-pods’) are a
0
separate phylum.
Quaternary
Age
Cambrian Period to present day. Brachiopods were
1.8 much more abundant and diverse during the Palaeozoic
Cenozoic
Environment
23
Entirely marine. They live on the sea floor.
Palaeogene
Description
Brachiopods all have a shell enclosing the soft tissues,
65 including a feeding device which filters off food
particles. The shell has two sides (called valves) which
Cretaceous
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
542
13 Gastropods
apex (first-formed
3 cm part of shell)
aperture through
which head and
foot emerged
central rod
4 cm (columella)
spirally
coiled
Viviparus tube into
Cretaceous Fusinus which body
Palaeogene withdrew
long canal for siphon along
which clean water was
drawn to the gills 5 cm
growth
lines
Palaeoxestina
Palaeogene
5.5 cm
aperture
canal for siphon 2 cm
Cornulina
Palaeogene
Symmetrocapulus
Jurassic
3.5 cm
limpet-like form, 7 cm
indicating specialisation
for clinging to rocks with
large, sucker-like foot
4 cm
unusually, the
aperture is on the
left in this species
Natica
(N. contraria) Neptunea
Neogene Neogene
14 Gastropods
Millions of yrs ago Gastropods are a group of molluscs that includes slugs
0 and snails. The molluscs form a very diverse phylum,
Quaternary
23
Age
Cambrian Period to present day. Gastropods first
Palaeogene
Interesting fact
Occasionally fossil gastropod shells show patterns of
colour banding. Some Palaeogene ones from southern
359
England 35 million years old show purples and browns,
Devonian
A B
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
488
A: Internal mould of Aptyxiella, a Jurassic gastropod
Cambrian
9 cm
5.5 cm zig-zag
margin
Pleuromya growth lines
Jurassic (successive edges of Lopha
shell during growth) Jurassic
interlocking ‘teeth’
and sockets to
ribs internal view
growth lines guide valves back
into a tight fit as
shell closed
8 cm Venericor
Palaeogene muscle scars marking
site of muscles that
hinge line closed shell
umbo (first-formed
part of shell)
ribs
8.5 cm
9 cm conspicuous
Pseudopecten growth lines
Jurassic Inoceramus
Cretaceous
small bumps
(tubercles)
Myophorella
Jurassic
7 cm
16 Bivalves
Millions of yrs ago
Examples of these molluscs include cockles, mussels,
0
scallops and oysters.
Quaternary
Age
Cambrian Period to present day. More common in the
1.8 Mesozoic and Cenozoic than the Palaeozoic.
Cenozoic
Neogene
Environment
Entirely aquatic. Most are marine, living on shallow sea
23 floors, though some inhabit freshwater. Many burrow into
Palaeogene
equal size and shape, one a mirror image of the other (unlike
in brachiopods). However, some bivalves such as oysters
lack any symmetry. Shells may be made of aragonite (which
146
often dissolves away) or calcite, or a mixture of both. The
Mesozoic
Jurassic
Interesting fact
One very common Jurassic oyster with a thick, curved
251 shell, a species of Gryphaea, is often known in English
folklore as the ‘Devil’s toenail’. It is unclear whether
Permian
A B
359
Devonian
Palaeozoic
C
416
Silurian
443
A: Gryphaea arcuata. The Jurassic oyster species
Ordovician
guard
radiating faint
calcite concentric
Chambered
crystals growth lines
phragmocone.
This often
falls out or
dissolves
away to leave
a cone-shaped
hole.
Cylindroteuthis
Jurassic
Cross-section
The radiating calcite crystals
distinguish belemnites from
burrows, bones, wood and 18 cm
other structures that lack them.
3 cm
Neohibolites 8 cm
Cretaceous 9 cm
Acrocoelites Gonioteuthis
Jurassic Cretaceous
18 Belemnites
Millions of yrs ago
Belemnites are an extinct group of cephalopods (molluscs)
0
that in many ways were probably rather like squid.
Quaternary
Age
Jurassic Period to the end of the Cretaceous Period.
1.8
Environment
Cenozoic
Neogene
Interesting fact
In mediaeval times, belemnites were thought to be
359 petrified thunderbolts (lightning strikes). The word
‘belemnite’ comes from the Greek for dart or javelin.
Devonian
Palaeozoic
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
542
19 Ammonites and Goniatites
internal moulds
broken edge (infillings) of two
of shell successive chambers. Ammonites
The chambers often
get filled with sediment
or calcite crystals.
ribs body chamber missing (crushed or
broken off). Sometimes the body
chamber is found on its own, as a
separate internal mould, especially if
first-formed the inner chambers have been crushed.
part of shell
6 cm highly complex suture pattern typical
of ammonites. The sutures mark the
Oxynoticeras chamber partitions, or septa.
Jurassic
keel (ridge)
with grooves
either side
strong ribs,
varying in
length
6.5 cm 6.5 cm
Hildoceras Cardioceras
Jurassic Jurassic
sickle-shaped keel (ridge)
ribs
later-formed
part of shell 7.5 cm
loosely coiled
Some
ammonites,
especially in early-formed
the Cretaceous, part of shell
became uncoiled spirally coiled
8 cm as usual
or coiled into
Harpoceras irregular, curious Scaphites
Jurassic shapes. Cretaceous
body chamber
Goniatites missing Goniatites
Carboniferous
4 cm This group of
cephalopods
lived only in
Palaeozoic seas.
Their chambered
shells had sutures
with a complexity
between that of
shell mostly broken away, simple zig- nautiloids and
revealing internal chambers zag suture ammonites.
filled with sediment
20 Ammonites and Goniatites
Millions of yrs ago Ammonites and their older relatives, the goniatites,
0 are extinct groups of cephalopods (molluscs). Living
Quaternary
Environment
23 Entirely marine, like all other cephalopods past and
present. The majority of ammonites inhabited shallow
Palaeogene
recrystallised to calcite.
The body of the ammonite was housed in the outermost
251 part of the shell, the body chamber. A thin tube used for
regulating buoyancy (the siphuncle) extended back through
Permian
all the chambers. The soft parts, e.g. tentacles, have never
been found as fossils, so exactly what living ammonites
299 looked like is unknown. Ammonites were abundant,
Carboniferous
359
Interesting fact
Ammonites were called ‘snakestones’ in English folklore.
Devonian
443
Ordovician
A B
488
A: The ammonite Dactylioceras. Jurassic. 8 cm.
Cambrian
Quaternary
shell dissolved away, body chamber for
showing chambers living animal
filled with sediment
Cenozoic
curving sutures
Neogene
Cenoceras
Jurassic 6 cm
23
Palaeogene
straight broken edge
Michelinoceras sutures of shell
Silurian 65
Cretaceous
9 cm (incomplete)
Age
Cambrian Period to present day.
146
Environment Mesozoic
Description
In the past, nautiloid shells had many different shapes,
some straight, some curved, and some irregularly 251
coiled. Except for a few species in the Triassic Period, all
Permian
Interesting fact
Palaeozoic
443
Ordovician
542
22 Corals Rugose
Tabulate
Scleractinian
Scleractinian corals
colonies
9 cm
5 cm
Isastraea Fungiastraea
Jurassic Jurassic
top of aragonite skeleton on
which sat the anemone-like soft
parts when the coral was alive septa
(radial partitions)
solitary
individual
4 cm 3 cm
Montlivaltia Parasmilia
Jurassic Cretaceous
colony composed of a
few large individuals
Thecosmilia
Jurassic
7 cm
23 Corals Rugose
Tabulate
Scleractinian
Rugose
wrinkled
surface corals
solitary
individuals
Tryplasma
Silurian
Dibunophyllum
5 cm Carboniferous
10 cm
septa
(radial partitions)
colonies
top view
tubes
3 mm
across
5 cm
Siphonodendron Acervularia
Silurian
Carboniferous
reduced
septa Tabulate
corals
close-up
6 cm 6 cm
Heliolites Favosites
Silurian Silurian
septa (radial partitions)
missing or reduced
4 cm
2 cm
Syringopora Halysites
Carboniferous Silurian
24 Corals Rugose
Tabulate
Scleractinian
Age
Ordovician Period to present day.
23
Environment
Palaeogene
Interesting fact
299
Although scleractinian corals are much younger than
Carboniferous
A B
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
rugose coral.
542
25 Sea urchins (echinoids)
petal-like rays of plates bearing tiny
top view pores through which tube feet projected
5 cm side view
interlocking calcite plates
(edges often hard to see)
Micraster
Cretaceous
mouth
pores for
top view tube feet underside
5 cm attachment
points for
anus tiny spines
Echinocorys (fallen off)
Cretaceous
side view
ball joint for base of
ray of pore- large spines (fallen off)
top view
bearing plates
spines often
3 cm 3 cm
Nucleolites break across
Jurassic flat, reflective
surfaces
top view
base of spine
3 cm with socket
anus for ball joint
examples of large
detached spines
26 Sea urchins (echinoids)
Millions of yrs ago
Sea urchins or echinoids (pronounded ‘eck-in-oids’) and
0
crinoids are the most common fossil echinoderms (‘eck-
Quaternary
23 Age
Palaeogene
Interesting fact
Some Cretaceous sea urchins were called ‘shepherds’
crowns’ in English folklore as they had five rays
359 converging on the apex, like the ribs on a crown.
Shepherds may have come across them, weathered out
Devonian
southern England.
416
A B
Silurian
443
Ordovician
488
A: Echinocorys. Cretaceous. 5 cm.
Cambrian
branched arms
for gathering cup with central
food particles mouth at top
calcite plates
incomplete
of cup
arm (others
broken off)
cup 3.5 cm
no stem broken stem
Marsupites Apiocrinites
Cretaceous Jurassic
central canal
for soft tissue
plates typically
3 – 15 mm across
stem plates (columnals) are usually
round or star-shaped with 5 points
28 Crinoids
Millions of yrs ago
0
Crinoids are echinoderms that are sometimes called ‘sea
lilies’ as some look superficially like plants.
Quaternary
Age
Cambrian Period to present day. Crinoids were much
1.8
more abundant and diverse during the Palaeozoic and
Cenozoic
Neogene
Description
Most ancient crinoids were attached to the sea floor by
65 a stem or stalk with a root-like base. Most stemmed
crinoids feed by bending their flexible, branching
Cretaceous
299
Carboniferous
359 C
Devonian
Palaeozoic
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
542
Trilobites
Note: Most trilobite fossils are bits and
29 pieces of exoskeleton shed during moulting;
complete specimens like these are rare.
13 trunk
segments
trunk 8 trunk
segments
5 cm large
tailpiece
tailpiece
10 cm
left lobe axis right lobe
Calymene Basilicus
Ordovician
Silurian
rows of pits with unknown
function (not eyes)
smooth 3 cm
exoskeleton
4 cm
Illaenus Trinucleus
Ordovician Ordovician
eye
very small 8 cm
20 cm tailpiece
Dalmanites
Paradoxides Silurian
Cambrian headshield with
lenses in large similar shape to
rolled up compound eye tailpiece
individual glabella
viewed from
the side only 2 trunk
segments
6 cm
6 mm
Phacops Agnostus
Silurian Cambrian
30 Trilobites
Millions of yrs ago
The extinct trilobites, pronounced ‘try-lo-bites’, are the
0
most important group of fossil arthropods. Arthropods are
Quaternary
Age
Cambrian Period to Permian Period, i.e. trilobites lived
23 only in the Palaeozoic Era.
Palaeogene
Environment
Entirely marine. Most trilobites lived on or near the floor
65 of shallow seas; some swam higher up in the ocean.
Cretaceous
Description
Like other arthropods, trilobites had a hard outer shell
146 (the exoskeleton) divided into segments, and paired,
jointed appendages. They grew during periodic moulting
Mesozoic
Jurassic
A B
Palaeozoic
416
Silurian
443
Ordovician
B
A
C
D
An ichthyosaur. These
marine reptiles lived only
in the Mesozoic Era. They
averaged 2-4 metres in
length; some reached
16 metres.
Four fossils representing ichthyosaurs. Jurassic. A: A vertebra from towards the rear of the
animal. Ichthyosaur vertebrae are typically dished in the centre (on both sides, i.e. front
and back), unlike those of plesiosaurs, which are flatter. The groove on the top is where
the spinal cord was located. 6.5 cm. B: A beach-worn vertebra from the neck region, with
rounded projections on left and right where the ribs articulated. 9 cm. C: Fragment of a rib
bone. 6 cm. D: One of the many bones of a paddle. 4.5 cm.
A B
Close-up of a typical piece of Quaternary
Ice Age bone showing the spongy texture A single woolly mammoth tooth.
of a broken surface, with pores still mostly Mammuthus. Quaternary. A: The biting
unfilled by extra minerals. 2.5 cm. surface of this molar from the upper jaw
is the gently curving, ridged part at the
bottom of the photo; some of the roots can
be seen top left. 20 cm across; larger teeth
may reach 35 cm. B: Close up-view, 4.5 cm
across, of the biting surface, with ridges of
hard grey enamel.
Preservation
299 The most common type of plant preservation is where
Carboniferous
pinna (leaflet of
20 cm across compound leaf)
root system
(separately called Stigmaria)
5 cm long
infilling pinnule
of hollow
stem
5 cm
across
6 cm across
horsetail seed fern
rosettes of leaves of
Calamites Calamites (separately Neuropteris
Carboniferous called Annularia) Carboniferous
incomplete pinna (leaflet of
single leaf single leaf compound leaf)
pinna
pinnule
7 cm
Ginkgo
Jurassic 5 cm 4 cm
long long
cycad fern
Nilssonia Coniopteris
Jurassic Jurassic
36 Plants
Identifying fossil plants
This is a specialised skill, especially as whole plants are very rare.
Isolated, different parts of the same plant (stem, leaves, roots, seeds,
pollen, etc) have usually been given different names, which may be
retained even when associations become known. Fragments of fossil
wood are relatively common, but can be difficult to distinguish from
fossil bone. Fossil wood usually has a more regular ‘grain’ than fossil
bone, which has a rather irregular, spongy texture (with pore spaces, as
in wood, normally filled by minerals). When seen under a microscope,
angiosperm wood tends to have two cell types of distinctively different
sizes – larger vessels and smaller diameter fibres. In conifers and their
relatives, wood cells are basically all of the same type, and generally
small. Annual growth rings may be seen in some fossil wood.
Beginning to study
If you have no experience of higher education, deciding to become
a university student can be a big step. Our programme of short
introductory courses has been specially designed to give you a taste
of university study before committing yourself to longer courses. Short
courses, such as Fossils and the history of life, are also suitable for
people who already have study experience, and are interested in a
particular topic.
Fossils and the history of life (S193)
This short course explains how organisms become fossilised, helps
you to identify common fossils and show you where they fit into the
story of evolution.
SUP002564