Vocabulary
A scientist who studies fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago
paleontologist
The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past
Trace Fossil
What type of fossilization results when the whole animal is preserved
Tar/Ice
90% of all living things that have been on Earth are extinct
True
In what type of rock are fossils found?
Sedimentary
The age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock formed.
Absolute Age
A fossil that is a copy of an organism's shape, formed when minerals seep into a mold.
Cast
Which fossilization process leaves behind a dark film on a sedimentary rock
Carbonization
Measuring the distance between footprints can tell scientists how big the whole animal was.
True
What parts of animals become fossils?
Hard parts, teeth/bones
A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together
Sedimentary
A fossil that captures insects of invertebrates in a sticky resin, it hardens over time, preserving the remains
Amber/Resin
Which type of fossilization occurs when a sticky substance from plants captures and preserves an organism
Amber
Some of the oldest fossils are 30 billion years old.
False
3 billion
After an organism dies, what must happen next to preserve the organism to become a fossil?
buried quickly
the process by which organic matter exposed to minerals over a long period is turned into a stony substance.
Petrification
a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found
Index Fossil
La Brea Tar Pits are located in which city and state
Los Angeles, CA
Mold and casts do not fit together like a puzzle
False
Name three examples of trace fossils
Nests, Burrows, footprint, trails
Oldest known fossils formed from many layers of bacteria and sediment.
Stromatolites
a space in a rock that has the shape of the remains of a living thing that once occupied that space.
Mold
This process typically occurs in fish and plants
Carbonization
Fossils that are found in deeper layers of sediment are younger
False
Fossils that are found in deeper layers of sediment are older
Marine fossils are found on tops of mountains because of_____________.
Uplift