FOSSILS

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I. Introduction to Fossils
The word fossil means: a preserved impression, imprint, or trace of living organisms from the past. The Latin term Fossilis means to be dug up. The first fossils were found in Ancient times by the Romans and Greeks who thought the bones belonged to giants and dragons. The first recorded fossil was a Megalosaurus (a carnivorous dinosaur) found by Thomas Pennyston. Pennyston later gave it to Robert Plot in 1676. Plants and all types of animals can turn into fossils. But most don’t, because of other animals destroy the bones or the remains decay before the fossilizing process can take place. There are two types of fossils. Trace fossils which are the trace of living things from the past. The trace fossils are things such as footprints, nests, burrows, and coprolite (feces). Body fossils are parts of the body or the whole body of living things. The body fossils are things such as teeth, claws, bone, and insects.
II. The Six Different Ways Fossils Form
There are six different ways a fossil can be formed. Tar, carbonization, permineralizaion, amber, desiccation and freezing are the six different ways fossils can form.
One way a fossil forms is through tar pits. Tar pits form when crude oil seeps through the Earth’s crust forming pools. The light oils are evaporated leaving the thick sticky oil we call tar. Then a plant or animal gets stuck in the tar because they think it is water. Predators, like Canis dirus (dire wolves) and Smilodon californicus (the most known sabre toothed tigers) are lured to the thought of a free lunch and go to get the prey and they end up stuck as well. They are the two animals most commonly found in the La Brea Tar Pits in California (where over six hundred new spe...

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...ived at a certain time period so the fossils next to it are from around the same time period.
Fossils let us learn many things. From fossils we now know what the Earth was like millions of years ago. Fossils helped us learn about the prehistoric organisms and how they lived. These fossils can also help us to learn how the Earth has changed.
IV. Conclusion
In conclusion we learn that there are many different types of fossils such as index fossils, trace fossils and body fossils. We also learn that there are many different ways the fossils are formed and a wide range of how long it takes them to be formed. Each fossil tells a different story and new knowledge in the world of science. Fossils have taught us many things about the history of Earth. Every time a new fossil is found it’s opening a window to the past in a new way. Fossils let the past live forever!

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