"A fossil is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants."
The collection of all the fossils that have been discovered, providing evidence of the history of life on Earth.
Paleontology: This is the study of ancient life through examining fossils and other remains.
Fossils: These are the preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms, such as bones, shells, footprints, or other impressions.
Geologic Time Scale: This refers to the division of Earth's history into different periods characterized by significant geological or biological events.
Evolution: This is the process by which species of organisms change over time through natural selection and genetic variation.
Darwinian Theory: This theory proposes that species evolve through a process of natural selection, where individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and pass on those traits to their offspring.
Transitional Fossils: These are fossils that show characteristics of both ancestral and derived forms, indicating a transition between different species.
Homology: This is the concept that similarities in physical structures or genetic sequences between different species suggest a common ancestry.
Convergent Evolution: This is the development of similar traits or adaptations in unrelated species in response to similar environmental pressures.
Extinction: This refers to the process by which a species or group of organisms dies out completely and no longer exists.
Mass Extinction: This refers to a rapid and widespread extinction event that affects a significant portion of Earth's biodiversity, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Paleoclimate: This is the study of past climates and environmental conditions through various geological evidence, such as sediment or ice core samples.
Biogeography: This is the study of the distribution of species and how they adapt to different geographical regions.
Phylogenetics: This is the study of the evolutionary relationships between different species based on molecular or genetic data.
Radiometric Dating: This is a method of determining the age of a rock or fossil by measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes within it.
Plate Tectonics: This is the theory that Earth's crust is made up of several large plates that move and interact with each other, creating various geological features and influencing the distribution of species over time.
Continental Drift: This is the process by which continents move and change their positions over time due to plate tectonics.
Biomineralization: This is the process by which organisms produce hard mineralized structures such as shells or skeletons, which often become fossilized.
Chemical Fossilization: This is the process by which organic molecules are preserved in fossilized remains, providing insights into ancient biological processes and environments.
Lagerstätten: These are deposits of exceptionally well-preserved fossils with high ecological and paleontological significance.
Paleobiology: This is the study of ancient life and its biological processes, including evolution, phylogeny, ecology, and behavior.
Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo): This is the study of how changes in developmental processes can influence evolutionary patterns and outcomes.
Ecomorphology: This is the study of how physical structures and adaptations of organisms relate to their ecological roles and interactions in their environment.
Paleopathology: This is the study of diseases, injuries, and other pathological conditions in ancient organisms, providing insights into their health and lifestyle.
Fossilization Processes: Different methods of fossil formation, such as petrification or carbonization.
Biogeochemical cycles: Process by which carbon and other elements move between living and non-living systems.
Geological Ere: Different geological periods in the history of Earth like the Cambrian Era, Triassic Era, Jurassic Era, Tertiary Era.
Body fossils: These are the preserved remains of the actual organism, which could be bones, shells, teeth or tissues. They give us direct evidence of what the organism looked like and how it lived.
Trace fossils: These are indirect evidences of past life, such as footprints, burrows, tracks, and feces. They give us information about the behavior and activities of ancient organisms.
Chemical fossils: These are fossils that are made from the chemical remnants of once-living organisms, such as ancient DNA or lipids. They provide information about the genetic makeup and physiological characteristics of organisms.
Resin/amber fossils: These are fossils that are preserved in amber, which is fossilized tree sap. The sticky resin entombs small insects and sometimes even plants or other organisms, providing us with detailed information about their structure.
Coprolites: These are fossilized feces, preserved over millions of years that can reveal crucial information about the diets and digestive systems of ancient organisms.
Imprints: These are impressions of organisms on solid surfaces, which create a detailed imprint of the organism that can sometimes include soft tissue.
Petrified fossils: These are fossils that were once living organisms preserved as minerals such as silica or limestone. This type of fossil preserves the structure of the organism, often in very fine detail.
Cast fossils: When a fossil is compressed into rock and then the rock erodes, a hollow space may be left that is filled in with minerals, creating a cast.
Molds: A mold is created when an organism, such as a shell or bone, is buried in sediment, leaving an impression in the surrounding sediment after the organism has decayed, leaving a negative image of the organism.
Replacement fossils: These are fossils in which the original organic material has been replaced by new mineral material. In these cases, the mineral replacement forms a replica of the original organic material.
"Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance."
"Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old."
"The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old."
"The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils."
"The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ages of rocks and the fossils they host."
"There are many processes that lead to fossilization, including permineralization, casts and molds, authigenic mineralization, replacement and recrystallization, adpression, carbonization, and bioimmuration."
"Fossils vary in size from one-micrometre (1 µm) bacteria to dinosaurs and trees, many meters long and weighing many tons."
"A fossil normally preserves only a portion of the deceased organism, usually that portion that was partially mineralized during life, such as the bones and teeth of vertebrates, or the chitinous or calcareous exoskeletons of invertebrates."
"Fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as animal tracks or feces (coprolites). These types of fossil are called trace fossils or ichnofossils, as opposed to body fossils."
"Some fossils are biochemical and are called chemofossils or biosignatures."
"The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record."
"Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance."
"Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old."
"There are many processes that lead to fossilization, including permineralization, casts and molds, authigenic mineralization, replacement and recrystallization, adpression, carbonization, and bioimmuration."
"Fossils vary in size from one-micrometre (1 µm) bacteria to dinosaurs and trees, many meters long and weighing many tons."
"A fossil normally preserves only a portion of the deceased organism, usually that portion that was partially mineralized during life, such as the bones and teeth of vertebrates, or the chitinous or calcareous exoskeletons of invertebrates."
"Fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as animal tracks or feces (coprolites). These types of fossil are called trace fossils or ichnofossils, as opposed to body fossils."
"Some fossils are biochemical and are called chemofossils or biosignatures."
"The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record."