Fossils PowerPoint

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Fossils notes.
Paleontology—The Study of Past Life
• The history of the Earth would be incomplete
without knowledge of the organisms that have
inhabited our planet and the conditions under
which they lived.

• The science involved with the study of past life

is called paleontology.

• Paleontologists study fossils, which are the

remains of organisms preserved by geologic
processes.
 Fossil
 Preserved remains of a past organism
 FORMATION OF
FOSSILS
 Fossilized- the process of becoming a fossil.
 Fossils are evidence of past life, preserved in
rock.
 Most fossils form when living things die and
are buried by sediments.
 The sediments slowly harden into rock and
preserve the shapes of the organisms.
 The Fossil Record and
life
 The fossil record is the complete body of
fossils that shows how species and ecosystems
change over time.
 What do fossils tell
us?
 Fossils provide evidence of how
life has changed over time.
 Fossils help scientists infer how
Earth’s surface has changed.
 Fossils are clues to what past
environments were like.
 **Watch the following 2 ½
min. video about conditions
that led to fossil preservation
of an early human.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resou
rce/tdc02.sci.life.evo.becfossil/
 Types of fossils
 Petrified fossils
 Molds and casts
 Carbon films
 Trace fossils
 Index fossils
 Preserved remains
Petrified Fossils
 Fossils in which minerals
replace all or part of an
organism.
 How does this happen?
 Water rich in dissolved minerals
seeped into spaces, then
evaporated, leaving the hardened
minerals behind.
 Example – petrified wood

Video-Petrified For
est
olds and casts
 Most common type of fossil.
 Both copy the shape of the organism.
 A mold is a hollow area of sediment in the shape of
the organism.
 A cast is a copy of the shape of an organism.
Consider
Mold Cast this: Mold
fossil fossil and cast
fossils
can be
compared
to a cake
pan. The
Carbonization-Carbon Films
 Leaves extremely thin coating of carbon film outline on
rock.
 How does this happen?
All organisms are made of carbon.
When they are buried,
the materials that make up
the organism evaporates.
These gases escape
leaving carbon behind.
 Trace
Fossils

 Trace fossils are a fossilized mark that is formed in soft

sediment by the movement or actions of an animal.
 Examples

 A footprint provides clues about the size and

behavior, the speed, how many legs it walked on,

lived alone or with others.
 A trail or burrow can give clues about the size and

shape of the organism, where it lived, and how it

obtained food.
 Index Fossils
 An index fossil is a fossil found in a narrow
time range but widely distributed around the
earth; used to date rock layers.
 Example
 Trilobite: a marine organism that has become a fossil.
 Ammonite
 Preserved remains
 Preservation of
remains with
little or no
change.

Bog
Mummies
 Preserved remains
 Tar
 The sticky oil that

seeps from
Earth’s surface.
Tar soaks into the
organisms bones,
preserving the
bones from
decay.
Preserved remains
 Amber
 The hardened

resin, or sap, of
trees. The
amber seals the
organism from
the air
protecting it
from decay.
eserved remains
Ice
 Ice Fossils are actual flesh remains of
the organism. They become
trapped in ice and
remain frozen until
they thaw. A good example
of an ice fossil is a
Woolly Mammoth,
which are often
found in the Arctic.
 NOW- Answer the following
questions in the margins below
the notes.
Observe the fossil at the
left.
A. What does it look like?
B. Where do you think you’d
find such a fossil?
Would it surprise you to know that
fossils similar to this were found
in the Sahara Desert?
C. What might you infer about how
Begingot
they working on your Fossil stations.
there?