Fossil

:For other uses of the term, see Fossil (disambiguation)

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Fossils are the mineralized remains of animals or plants or other traces such as footprints. The totality of fossils and their placement in rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils is called paleontology.

Related Topics:
Mineral - Rock - Strata - Fossil record - Paleontology

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The word fossil is derived from the Latin word fossilis, which means "to be dug up".

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Fossilization is actually a rare occurrence because natural materials tend to be recycled. In order for an organism to be fossilized, the remains normally need to be covered by sediment as soon as possible. However there are exceptions to this, such as if an organism becomes petrified or comes to rest in an anoxic environment such as at the bottom of a lake. There are several different types of fossils and fossilization processes.

Related Topics:
Sediment - Petrified

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Fossils usually consist of traces left by the remains of the organism itself. However, fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as the footprint of a dinosaur or reptile. These types of fossil are called trace fossils.

Related Topics:
Dinosaur - Reptile - Trace fossil

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The oldest known structured fossils are most likely stromatolites. Believed to be formed by the entrapment of minerals by mucous-like sheets of cyanobacteria, the oldest of these formations dates from 3.5 billion years ago. Fossilized deposits of heavy carbon (acritarchs) that are also indicative of earlier life (3.8 billion years ago) are currently proposed as the remains of the earliest life on Earth.

Related Topics:
Stromatolites - Cyanobacteria - Carbon - Acritarchs - Earth

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