What are fossils?
These are preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms.
What are fossils?
Fossils most commonly form in this type of rock.
What is sedimentary rock?
This type of fossil forms when animals are preserved in sticky natural asphalt.
What are tar pit fossils?
This theory developed by scientist Charles Darwin is supported by the fossil record.
What is natural selection?
This dating method is used to determine the age of fossils under 50,000 years old.
What is radiocarbon dating?
This term describes the study of fossils and what they tell us about Earth’s history.
What is paleontology?
Rapid burial and low amounts of this element are key for fossilization.
What is oxygen?
These fossils are preserved in hardened tree resin.
What are amber fossils?
Fossils help prove that all organisms come from one original species, supporting this concept.
What is common ancestry?
Fossils found in rock layers closer to the surface are usually younger than those found deeper underground. This principle helps scientists determine the relative age of fossils.
What is stratigraphy?
Fossils provide physical evidence that helps scientists understand how these have changed over time on Earth.
What is life? or What are organisms?
This fossil type forms when minerals fill the tiny pores of bones or shells over time.
What is permineralization?
These rare fossils are often preserved with soft tissue intact due to freezing.
What are ice fossils?
This type of fossil, like Tiktaalik, links one major group of animals to another.
What are transitional fossils?
This dating technique uses nearby volcanic ash and radioactive decay.
What is radiometric dating?
Name two common materials that can become body fossils.
What are bones and shells?
These environments—like rivers, lakes, or seas—are the most ideal for fossil preservation.
What are sediment-rich environments?
These fossils formed by permineralization are usually found in sedimentary rocks and require rapid burial and low oxygen to preserve hard parts.
What is a traditional fossil?
Fossils of early human ancestors show a transition to this type of movement.
What is walking upright? or What is bipedalism?
Fossils like Ötzi can be dated with high accuracy using this method on soft tissue.
What is radiocarbon dating?
These are the four main ways fossils form: permineralization, replacement, molds & casts, and this carbon-based method.
What is carbonization?
These three things are needed for a traditional rock fossil to form: hard body parts, mineral-rich water, and this type of sediment.
What is fine sediment?
Amber fossils can trap small organisms like insects. What substance does amber originally come from?
What is tree resin?
Fossils that show features intermediate between two different groups provide key evidence for this concept in evolution, illustrating gradual changes over time.
What is transitional evolution?
This method analyzes shifts in Earth’s magnetic field recorded in rocks to help date fossils.
What is paleomagnetic dating?