Types of Fossils: Explanation and Examples

Introduction:

Do you ever wish you could go back in time and see what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth? That would be cool but dangerous! A safer way to learn about dinosaurs is to study the information they left behind.

Paleontologists are scientists who specialize in studying fossils.

Let’s discuss the types of fossils in detail.

Explanation:

Fossils

Fossils are the preserved remains of animals or plants that lived long ago.

If we didn’t have fossils, we wouldn’t even know that dinosaurs ever roamed the Earth! 

These organisms lived in Earth’s past.

Types of Fossils

There are two main kinds of fossils: body fossils and trace fossils.

 

Body Fossils

Body fossils are the remains of actual animals or plants, and these remains might include teeth, bones, or eggs.

Sometimes, an entire animal might be found! For example, an insect may have gotten stuck in some tree sap and died there. The tree sap hardened, and this preserved the insect’s whole body inside of the hardened sap.

Body fossils are very important to paleontologists because they tell us what the animal looked like.

This can also help us learn more about how the animals moved, what size they were, and whether they were covered in hair or feathers.

Mold and Cast

Molds and casts are types of body fossils. Fossil molds and casts preserve a three-dimensional impression of remains buried in sediment.

The mineralized impression of the organism left in the sediment is called a mold.

The mineralized sediment that fills the mold recreates the remains’ shape, which is called a cast.

Trace Fossils

The second kind of fossil is called trace fossils, which show us ‘traces’ of the animal’s life.

Trace fossils include things like footprints, nests, and burrows.

Scientists have found dinosaurs tracks in many places in the world.

These tell us things such as how fast dinosaurs could run, whether they walked on two legs or on four, and what their feet looked like.

What Do Fossils Tell Us?

• They give us clues about organisms that lived long ago.
• They also provide evidence about how Earth’s surface has changed over time.
• Fossils help scientists understand what past environments may have been like.

Summary

• Fossils are preserved remains of organisms.
• Paleontologists are scientists who specialize in studying fossils.
• There are two main kinds of fossils: body fossils and trace fossils.
• Body fossils are the remains of actual animals or plants.
• Molds and casts are types of body fossils.
• The second kind of fossils is called trace fossils. These show us ‘traces’ of what the animal’s life was like.
• Trace fossils include things like footprints, nests, and burrows.