REVIEW:

•Compare homologous
and vestigial.

2
 OBJECTIVE:
• describe how fossil record supports the
theory of evolution as well as the
continental drift theory.

3
• Remember the fossil activity we made?
• Describe how we created the process.

4
What
• A fossilisisathefossil?
preserved remains of a
once-living organism (at least 10,000 yrs.
old).
• Latin: fossilis (something dug up)
What do fossils tell us?
• Fossils give clues about organisms that lived
long ago. They help to show that evolution
has occurred.
• They also provide evidence about how
Earth’s surface has changed over time.
• Fossils help scientists understand what past
environments may have been like.
 The Fossil Record
All of the fossils that exist are part of the
Fossil Record
• Includes fossils that have yet to be
discovered
• Paleontologists- study life in the past

6
 HOW IS A FOSSIL FORMED?

1. Sediment 2. Layers 3. Movement 4. Erosion

An animal is buried by More sediment layers Movement of tectonic Erosion from rain,
sediment, such as accumulate above the plates, or giant rock rivers, and wind wears
volcanic ash or silt, animal’s remains, and slabs that make up away the remaining
shortly after it dies. Its minerals, such as silica Earth’s surface, lifts rock layers. Eventually,
bones are protected (a compound of silicon up the sediments and erosion or people
from rotting by the and oxygen), slowly pushes the fossil digging for fossils will
layer of sediment. replace the calcium closer to the surface. expose the preserved
phosphate in remains.
the bones.
FIVE MAIN TYPES OF FOSSILS

Petrified Molds and Carbon

Fossils Casts Films

Trace Preserved
Fossils Remains
 PETRIFIED FOSSILS
• The word “petrified” means
“turning into stone.”
• Petrified fossils form when
minerals replace all or part
of an organism.
• Water is full of dissolved
minerals. It seeps through
the layers of sediment to
reach the dead organism.
PETRIFIED FOSSIL
The Field Museum in Chicago When the water evaporates,
displays a fossil of a only the hardened minerals
Tyrannosaurus rex.
are left behind.
 MOLDS AND CASTS
• A mold forms when hard parts of an
organism are buried in sediment,
such as sand, silt, or clay.
MOLD FOSSIL • The hard parts completely dissolve
This mold, or imprint, is of over time, leaving behind a hollow
an extinct mollusk called area with the organism’s shape.
an ammonite.
• A cast forms as the result of a mold.
• Water with dissolved minerals and
sediment fills the mold’s empty
spaces.
CAST FOSSIL • Minerals and sediment that are left
This ammonite cast was
in the mold make a cast.
discovered in the United
Kingdom. • A cast is the opposite of its mold.
 CARBON FILMS
• All living things contain an
element called carbon.
• When an organism dies
and is buried in sediment,
the materials that make up
the organism break down.
• Eventually, only carbon
FERN FOSSIL remains.
This carbon-film fossil of a • The thin layer of carbon
fern is more than left behind can show an
300 million years old.
organism’s delicate parts,
like leaves on a plant.
 TRACE FOSSILS

• Trace fossils show the

activities of organisms.
• An animal makes a footprint
when it steps in sand or mud.
• Over time the footprint is
buried in layers of sediment.
Then, the sediment becomes
FANCY FOOTWORK
This dinosaur footprint was solid rock.
found in Namibia, Africa.
 PRESERVED REMAINS
Some organisms get preserved in or close to their
original states. Here are some ways that can happen.

Amber Tar Ice

An organism,
An organism, An organism,
such as a woolly
such as an insect, such as a
mammoth, dies in
is trapped in a mammoth, is
a very cold
tree’s sticky resin trapped in a tar pit
region. Its body is
and dies. More and dies. The tar
frozen in ice,
resin covers it, soaks into its
which preserves
sealing the insect bones and stops
the
inside. It hardens the bones from
organism—even
into amber. decaying.
its hair!
 Burial
• Quick burial is important!
• Abiotic (non-living)and biotic (living)
factors destroy most bodies before they
become fossils.
• Macroscopic and microscopic
scavengers, predators, decomposers,

14
 Most fossils are found in
sedimentary rock…
• Cover a dead
object without
damaging it.

• Keep other
animals from
destroying
“potential” fossils.
keichosaurus
 No fossils in igneous or
metamorphic rocks !?
• Living things
covered with hot,
molten lava tend to
burn up…
• …and fossils in
metamorphised
rocks become
pressured/heated
beyond recognition.
• Usually, only the
HARD parts of an
organism are
preserved…bones,
shells, teeth.

• Sometimes, only a
replica of the
organism remains.
 Normally…
• Dead plants & animals
are usually eaten by
other animals or
decomposed by
bacteria before they can
become fossils.
• Only dead orgs that get
buried quickly by
sediment stand a
chance of getting
preserved as fossils.
Types of Fossilization
 Mummification
• Organisms
become dried out.
• Usually found in
desert caves or
buried in desert
sand.
• Org doesn’t rot :
bacteria need
moisture to
“work.”
 Amber
• Hardened tree sap.
• Delicate structures
preserved (legs,
antennae)
• DNA has been
extracted from
these fossils…
 Tar Beds
• Pools of “black
gold” at the
Earth’s surface
usually covered
by water.

• Animals come to
drink, get stuck in
the tar, and get
La Brea Tar Pits in L.A.
sucked in…
 Freezing
• Low temps of frozen
soil & ice protect &
preserve organisms.
• Org doesn’t rot:
bacteria can’t
survive freezing
temps.
• Rhinos, mastodons,
mammoths found in
Alaska & Siberia.
 Petrification
• Mineral-rich
groundwater
removes &
replaces the
original mineral
with a harder
mineral (such as
silica, calcite,
pyrite).
• Petrified wood!
 Traces of Organisms
• TRACE
FOSSILS such
as tracks,
footprints,
borings, and
burrows can
provide
information
about
organisms.
 Imprints
• Leaves, stems,
shelled creatures,
flowers, fish…
become stuck in
soft clay and
leave an imprint
which shows the
surface features
of the organism.
 Molds
• An organism gets
buried in soft
sediment…
• …its remains decay,
leaving an empty
space…a “bubble” of
nothing in the shape of
the organism
• A mold retains the
shape & exterior
markings of the org, but
tells us zero about the
“insides.”
 Casts
• When sand or
mud gets inside a
mold & hardens, a
cast is formed.
• A cast is a replica
of the outer
surface of the
original org. Montana Rhinos
 Index Fossils
• Certain fossils are
found only in the
rock layers of a
particular
geologic age.
• These are known
as INDEX
FOSSILS.
Paradoxides :Cambrian Era
 To Qualify as an Index Fossil:
• Must be “world-wide.”

• Must be distinctive.

• Must have a “short” life

span.
Echioceras: Jurassic Period

• Must be numerous!
To Qualify as an Index Fossil:

Directions: Study the

image in Figure. The
image shows the
stratified rocks which
will be examined by
an archaeologist. If you
are the archeologist,
how will you describe
the age of fossil A to G?
Get some facts from the given information.
Fossils or fossil records are also used
as a strong evidence of Continental
Drift Theory.
Illustrates that fossils of similar
organisms, such as plants and animals,
in rocks of a similar age have been
found on the shores of different
continents.
These discoveries suggested that the
continents were once joined. For
example, the fossil of the freshwater
reptile Mesosaurus have been found
both in Brazil and western
Africa. Likewise, fossils of
Lystrosaurus, a land reptile, have been
discovered in rocks of
Get some facts from the given information.
Fossils or fossil records are also used
as a strong evidence of Continental
Drift Theory.
Illustrates that fossils of similar
organisms, such as plants and animals,
in rocks of a similar age have been
found on the shores of different
continents.
These discoveries suggested that the
continents were once joined. For
example, the fossil of the freshwater
reptile Mesosaurus have been found
both in Brazil and western
Africa. Likewise, fossils of
Lystrosaurus, a land reptile, have been
discovered in rocks of
Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is correct
and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.
Write your answers before the number.
__________1. Fossils are preserved remains of
dead organisms that were lived from the past.
__________2. Bones, shells and leaves are
examples of trace fossils.
__________3. Fossils are used to determine how
much or little organisms have changed over the
past million or
billion of years.
__________4. Fossil records refer to the totality of
fossils unearthed in sedimentary strata.
__________5. Fossil records can be used to
support the theory of evolution as well as
continental drift theory.
GENERALIZATION:

*Fossils are
Fossils that aren't exactly part of the
organism. These include footprints,
burrows, eggshells, and my personal
favorite, coprolite (or fossilized
excrement).They give insight into an
organism's behavior.

Cast fossils
Mold fossils
Index fossils
Trace fossils
What type of fossil is this?

Carbonized
Cast
Mold
Preserved
In which kind of rock do we
usually find a fossil?

igneous rock
metamorphic rock
sedimentary rock
When an organism dies, is buried, and
decays leaving behind a cavity in the
shape of the organism is considered
which type of fossil?

cast
mold
petrified
trace
What type of fossil is this?

carbonized

cast

petrified

preserved
Fossils that aren't exactly part of the
organism. These include footprints,
burrows, eggshells, and my personal
favorite, coprolite (or fossilized
excrement).They give insight into an
organism's behavior.

Cast fossils
Mold fossils
Index fossils
Trace fossils
Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is correct
and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.
Write your answers before the number.
__________1. Fossils are preserved remains of
dead organisms that were lived from the past.
__________2. Bones, shells and leaves are
examples of trace fossils.
__________3. Fossils are used to determine how
much or little organisms have changed over the
past million or
billion of years.
__________4. Fossil records refer to the totality of
fossils unearthed in sedimentary strata.
__________5. Fossil records can be used to
support the theory of evolution as well as
continental drift theory.
Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is correct
and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.
Write your answers before the number.
__________1. Fossils are preserved remains of
dead organisms that were lived from the past.
__________2. Bones, shells and leaves are
examples of trace fossils.
__________3. Fossils are used to determine how
much or little organisms have changed over the
past million or
billion of years.
__________4. Fossil records refer to the totality of
fossils unearthed in sedimentary strata.
__________5. Fossil records can be used to
support the theory of evolution as well as
continental drift theory.
Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is correct
and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.
Write your answers before the number.
__________1. Fossils are preserved remains of
dead organisms that were lived from the past.
__________2. Bones, shells and leaves are
examples of trace fossils.
__________3. Fossils are used to determine how
much or little organisms have changed over the
past million or
billion of years.
__________4. Fossil records refer to the totality of
fossils unearthed in sedimentary strata.
__________5. Fossil records can be used to
support the theory of evolution as well as
continental drift theory.