Download Fossils

Fossils
-Any evidence or remains of past life.
In December 2013, scientists reported,
for the first time, the entire genome of
a Neanderthal. The genome was
extracted from the toe bone of a
130,000-year-old Neanderthal found in
a Siberian cave. According to
preliminary sequences, 99.7% of the
base pairs of the modern human and
Neanderthal genomes are identical,
compared to humans sharing around
98.8% of base pairs with the
chimpanzee.[5]
1) Permineralization – pore spaces are filled with
minerals; organic material is replaced.
• Examples: petrified wood; amber
2) Mold – a hollowed out impression
3) Cast – when a mold becomes filled
with minerals or sediments
4) Original Preservation – remains of
the actual life form
• Examples: mammoth preserved by ice; bugs
trapped in amber
“Ginger Yuka,” baby mammoth from 10,000 years ago; still had organs inside.
Original Preservation
5) Volcanic Ash
6) Tar Pits
• An animal must be buried before it decays.
• Hard parts like bones and shells are most likely
to become fossils.
• Fossils are usually found in sedimentary rocks
(but the rock itself is not necessarily the fossil).
• Fossils are used to correlate (match) rock layers.
Ammonite index fossil from the Devonian.
• Index Fossil – organism that was abundant but
only lived during a short time span; used to
correlate rock layers
Correlate the fossils to match the rock layers
Fossil ID Game
Prehistoric Animal Game