Types of fossils
- 1. Types of Fossils Different kinds of fossils are created different ways! • Preserved organisms • Mineral replacement • Impression fossils
- 2. What is a preserved organism? • Fossils frozen in time • The soft body parts are preserved as well as the hard parts • Decay of the plant or animal is minimal How do we preserve things in our homes?
- 4. Mineral Replacement • Hard parts of an animal decay slowly- like bones, and claws • when animal is buried water seeps through the ground, through the bone. • The seeping water dissolves the bone, and minerals in the water replace the bone one cell at a time. • This eventually becomes stone.
- 5. When mineral replacement occurs it is also called petrification
- 6. Mineral Replacement The Utahraptor found at Dalton Wells Quarry in east-central Utah, near Moab! The minerals that petrified this ammonite fossil are all different and make it different colors.
- 7. Impression Fossils • These fossils can show detailed outlines of organisms like thin plants or small animals, which die in sediment. • As they decay, they leave a carbon deposit that shows as a dark print of the organism • Impression fossils also include tracks
- 8. Impression Fossils Dinosaur footprint in sandstone found in UTAH! Trilobite Impression fossil. See how it is 3 dimensional? Can you tell the fossil is darker then the gray stone?