FOSSIL RECORD

Nicholas Steno’s anatomical

drawing of an extant shark
(left) and a fossil shark tooth (right).

● FOSSIL RECORD

- provides snapshots of the past which, when assembled, illustrate a panorama of

evolutionary change over the past 3.5 billion years.
- The picture may be smudged in places and has bits missing, but fossil evidence
clearly shows that life is very, very old and has changed over time through
evolution.

● EARLY FOSSIL DISCOVERY

- Scientists have long recognized fossils as evidence of past life.

- The ancient Greek philosopher Xenophanes found fossilized shells on dry land
and concluded that the area had once been a seabed.
- Almost a thousand years ago, the Chinese scientist Shen Kuo made similar
arguments based on fossilized remains from species that could not have lived in
the modern environments in which they were discovered.
- In the 17th century, Nicholas Steno noted the similarity between shark teeth and
the rocks commonly known as “tongue stones,” making the argument that the
stones had come from the mouths of once-living sharks.
- Since then, paleontologists such as Victorian England’s Mary Anning, who
helped uncover the first correctly identified ichthyosaur fossil, have continued to
flesh out our understanding of the diversity of ancient life forms.
 ● ADDITIONAL CLUES FROM FOSSILS
- Today, few question the finding that fossils represent past life. It’s hard to look at
a T. rex skeleton and conclude otherwise. But this doesn’t mean that science is
done with fossils. Paleontologists continue to learn from fossils – and not just
about the anatomy of the organisms preserved.

● FOSSILS REVEAL ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP FROM THE PAST

- This leaf fossil (which is a bit more than 10 million years old) shows a distinct
pattern of damage – one that matches the damage to modern leaves caused by
the caterpillar of the moth Stigmella heteromelis.
- The damage patterns are so similar and distinct from other sorts of leaf damage
that, although we don’t have fossils of the ancient moth itself, we know from the
leaf fossil that it must have been present in the environment and at the time that
this plant lived.
- Based on where this fossil was found, scientists know that the moth species has
a much smaller range today than it did in the past.
- The fossil also reveals that this caterpillar was parasitized by a tiny wasp, as
indicated by the small circular hole (yellow arrow) made by the wasp as it exited.
We observe the same parasitic relationship between wasps and S. heteromeles
today.

● Fossils, physiology, and behavior

- Fossils can also tell us about growth patterns in ancient animals.

For example, this picture shows a cross-section through the skull of the dome-headed dinosaur
Stegoceras validum. The blue spaces show where blood vessels ran through the bone. The
density of blood vessels on the dome indicates that this bone was growing quickly. That, along
with other lines of evidence, suggest that this fossil came from a juvenile. In fact, the
dome-head of this dinosaur species was at its most extreme in juveniles. This (again, along
with other evidence relating to the strength of the dome) suggest that the dome was not used in
head-butting competitions for adult mates, and probably served some other function – perhaps
helping individuals of the same species recognize one another.