Self-Check Lesson 2.

2
Fossils and Its Types

Evaluation Questions
1. What factors make it more likely that an animal will be preserved as a fossil?
2. Why is it so rare for an animal to be preserved as a fossil?
3. A scientist wants to determine the age of a rock. The rock contains an index fossil and an
ancient relative of a living fossil. Which fossil will be more useful for dating the rock, and why?

Types of organisms that make good index fossils are widespread but only existed for a
short period of time. Index fossils help scientists to determine the approximate age of a
rock layer and to match that layer up with other rock layers.

4. Why are examples of amazing fossil preservation so valuable for scientists?

These preserved remains allow scientists the rare opportunity to examine the skin, hair,
and organs of ancient creatures. Scientists have collected DNA from these remains and
compared the DNA sequences to those of modern creatures.

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the
past. Fossils are important evidence for evolution because they show that life on earth
was once different from life found on earth today.
5. The island of Spitzbergen is in the Arctic Ocean north of Norway, near the North Pole. Fossils of
tropical fruits have been found in coal deposits in Spitzbergen. What does this indicate?
It indicates that the current location of Spitzbergen was a tropical latitude area. Plate
tectonics theory best explains this phenomenon. The earth's outer shell is made up of
plates that move over the mantle. These plates are exposed to various forces and that
causes their movement.