Module 4: Fossils and Fossil Types

Objective

This module aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Discuss what a fossil is and how it is formed.

2. Enumerate type of fossiles.

Fossil

Fossil, and other terms like trace, impressions, and remnant, all refer to the remains of dead
plants and animals that are preserved in Earth’s crust. Fossil record is the records of complex
data of fossil around the planet.

Not all remains are preserved as fossils, only organisms with solid and resistant bones become
fossilized.

This is a Dinosaur fossil found in Alberta,

Canada. As the hard parts of the animals are
buried, solutions of calcium carbonate or other
mineral salts enter the pores of the bone in a
process called ‘permineralization’ thus
fossilizing the bone.

By contrast, the soft parts of animals or plants are very rarely preserved. The embedding of
insects in amber (a process called ‘resin fossilization’) and the preservation of the carcasses of
Pleistocene mammoths in ice are rare but striking examples of the fossil preservation of soft
tissues. Leaves, stems, and other vegetable matter may be preserved through the process of
carbonization, where such parts are flattened between two layers of rock. The chemical reduction
of the part produces a carbon film that occurs on one layer of rock, while an impression of that
part occurs on the other layer of the rock.

AMA Blended Learning | Course Module

Most fossils are found in water environment as it is less harsh as compared to land which make it
harder to destroy the fossils. Anaerobic conditions at the bottom of the seas or other bodies of
water are especially favourable for preserving fine details, since no bottom faunas, except for
anaerobic bacteria, are present to destroy the remains.

In general, for an organism to be preserved two conditions must be met: rapid burial to retard
decomposition and to prevent the ravaging of scavengers; and possession of hard parts capable
of being fossilized.

Types of Fossils

1. Preserved Remains -rarest form of fossilization is the preservation of original skeletal

material and even soft tissue.

2. Permineralization -the most common method of fossilization is permineralization. After a

bone, wood fragment, or shell is buried in sediment, it may be exposed to mineral-rich water that
moves through the sediment.

3. Molds and Casts -the empty space in the shape of the remains that was left as the original
bones or shells dissolves away.

4. Replacement -when the original bone or shell dissolves away and gets replace by some
minerla.

5. Compression -fossils that are compressed due to high pressure leaving dark imprint on the
fossil.

6. Exceptional Preservation -fossils from these beds may show evidence of soft body parts that
are not normally preserved. Two of the most famous examples of soft organism preservation are
the Burgess Shale in Canada and the Solnhofen Limestone in Germany.

References:

https://britannica.com/science/fossil

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/earthscience/chapter/fossils/

AMA Blended Learning | Course Module