“Index fossils”

By: Gwyneth Andrea T. Bagaipo

Gwyneth Andrea T. Bagaipo Grade-11 STEM/Alalan

“Index fossils” .

Synthesis Paper (Earth Science)

Fossils are the remnants of a once-living organism preserved in sediments or in parts of

fossilized structures. Any living thing — animal, plant, bacterium, or fungus — has the potential

to become a fossil, but there are those fossils that are used to define periods of geologic time.

These are called Index fossils. Derived from the Latin word indicō, meaning to “point out,

show”. Index fossils point out the age of other fossils and rocks found in the same layer. While

each fossil reveals something about the age of the rock it is located in, index fossils provide the

most information.

There are four main characteristics that make a fossil a good index fossil. Firstly, a good

index fossil must be distinctive and easily recognizable, so that it can be easily identified by

paleontologists. Second, abundance. In order to be located in strata within different parts of the

world or a country. Good index fossils have to have been abundant while on Earth. Third, A

good index fossil is found in a short geological range. The term geologic range refers to the total

length of geologic time that an organism was, or has been, present on earth. The shorter the

lifespan of a taxon, the more precisely it can correlate with different sediments, and so rapidly

evolving types of fossils are particularly valuable. General I article index fossils - indian

academy of sciences. (n.d.). Lastly, a good index fossil must be globally widespread. That is to

say, they should be found in a lot of places all over the globe. To sum it up, the best index fossil
should be widespread globally, abundant and easily recognizable, of short species lifespan, easily

preserved, and found in a variety of environments.

An evening about more than 200 years ago, three people with a common interest in

rocks and fossils discussed the fledgling field of geology. Two of the people were Joseph

Townsend best known for his 1786 treatise A Dissertation on the Poor Laws and Benjamin

Richardson were collectors of fossils. The third person was a young surveyor and canal engineer

by the name of William Smith, who had a thorough knowledge of the strata, or layers, of rock in

England. These men noticed while making the chart of the rock strata in the vicinity of Bath

something odd. They noticed a dramatic turnover between what they called millstone and the

pennant Stone layers. While the millstone layer (the lower layer) was dominated by plant fossils,

the Pennant Stone layer (the upper layer) was dominated by marine mollusk shells. This then

turns into an idea that rock layers across the country had a predictable pattern and that whatever

their location, they could be recognized and linked to distant rock layers by the distinctive fossil

collections they contained. He called this idea the principle of faunal succession or fossil

succession. Specific flora and fauna (a collection of plants and animals specific to a given

geographic location) remnants are frequently discovered to be confined to a specific geologic

horizon. These fossils are known as Index Fossils. This was how certain flora and fauna

remnants can be used to identify what geological period the rock layer is.

Microfossils are fossils that are of a size between 0.001 mm and 1 mm. Many index

fossils are microfossils, an example of index microfossils are foraminifera, diatoms, and

graptolites. These index microfossils are often used by geologists who look for oil to help them

decide where to drill for petroleum. There are numerous uses for fossils in petroleum geology.
The two most common uses are biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental analyses.

Biostratigraphy is the differentiation of rock units based on the fossils which they contain. A

paleoenvironmental analysis is the interpretation of the depositional environment in which the

rock unit formed, based upon the fossils found within the unit. (O'neill, B. J. (1996).

Some examples of animal Index fossils are ammonites. Ammonites, which evolved

about 416 million years ago, were once the most abundant animals of the ancient seas. Scientists

have identified more than 10,000 ammonite

species, such as Arnioceras

semocostatum pictured here, and use their shells

to date other fossils. Ammonites, facts and photos.

Animals. (n.d.). Ammonite the colloquial term for

ammonoids are or were a diverse group of

creatures that boomed during the Devonian period. They can be related to what we have now

such as squid, octopus, and cuttlefish. The ammonites ruled over the planet’s seas until the end

of the Cretaceous period by a large asteroid that struck the Yucatán peninsula which also ended

the reign of non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

Gastropods are another example of animal index fossils. Gastropods have left behind an

extraordinary fossil record that documents

a rich evolutionary history. They are

distinctive among animals for their high

taxonomic, ecological, and environmental

diversity. The reasons for this evident

“evolutionary success,” however, remain unclear. Fossil record of Gastropoda. Digital Atlas of

Ancient Life. (2022, May 23). Gastropods were first found in the Lower Cambrian always or if not

often on Paleozoic rocks and still to this day persist in a variety of forms and lifestyles.

To sum it all up, Index fossils are any once-living organism preserved in sediments

that are used to define periods of geologic time. Good index fossils are ones that are widespread

globally, abundant and easily recognizable, of short species lifespan, easily preserved, and found

in a variety of environments. These index fossils especially microfossils can help geologists who

look for oil to help them decide where to drill for petroleum. In a way Index fossils are a

message from the past that guides the new generation into finding and unraveling the secrets of

the natural world for tangible evidence of God’s handiwork.

Reference

General I article index fossils - indian academy of sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2023,
from https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Volumes/reso/011/10/0069-0077.pdf

O'neill, B. J. (1996). Using microfossils in petroleum exploration. The Paleontological Society

Papers, 2, 237-246.

Ammonites, facts and photos. Animals. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2023, from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/ammonites

Fossil record of Gastropoda. Digital Atlas of Ancient Life. (2022, May 23). Retrieved January 3,
2023, from https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/mollusca/gastropoda/fossil-
record/