getting into the fossil record

Question 1

5 kinds of trace fossils

Answer 1

Burrows, trails, tracks, feces, and footprints

Question 2

Find the walnut. How did it become a fossil?

Answer 2

The walnut becomes a fossil by mineralization. Mineralization is when minerals in water compact in the space of an organism and becomes rock.

Question 3

What happened to the mammoth?

Answer 3

The mammoth got frozen really quickly. If organisms freeze quickly, then the whole body can be preserved before decomposition and weathering and erosion could destroy it.

Question 4

Why are the mouse and the jellyfish being compared?

Answer 4

The mouse and the jellyfish are being compared in order to explain how hard parts, such as bones and teeth, are more readily preserved in the fossil record than soft tissue. A mouse is most likely to become a fossil because they have harder bodies with more bones, while the jellyfish don’t have bones.

Question 5

Why is it difficult for an organism living in the rainforest to become a fossil?

Answer 5

In the rainforest there is a lot of rain which causes the dead organisms to decay faster, leaving no time for fossils to form. There are also many decomposers and scavengers in the rainforest which break down the tissues of the animal.

Question 6

What are two reasons why many organisms never become part of the fossil record?

Answer 6

There are very different conditions that the animals die in and that can impact whether they become a fossil or not. There are a lot of ways that a fossil can be destroyed that only very few can resist it long enough to become a fossil.

Question 7

What are the ways that geologic processes can destroy a fossil?

Answer 7

Fossils can be moved by steamed, glaciers, or scavengers. They can also be eroded by wind, water, and sun.

Question 8

Why isn’t igneous rock a good place to look for fossils?

Answer 8

You might not find a fossil in an igneous rock because any organism caught in the lava flow would get destroyed because of the extremely high temperatures.

Question 9

Find the map of Montana. What are two things to keep in mind when you are looking for a fossil like T. rex? What do the colors and letters represent?

Answer 9

You need to look for rock that is the right type of rock (sedimentary) and the right age (Mesozoic). The colors and letters represent the different ages and types of rocks.

Question 10

Abiotic/Physical Factors:

Answer 10

Non-living factors such as erosion, wind and sun exposure.

Question 11

Benthic

Answer 11

Living at the bottom of the ocean or on the ocean floor.

Question 12

Biological/Biotic Factors:

Answer 12

Living factors such as decomposers, scavengers and predators.

Question 13

Body Fossil:

Answer 13

Body parts of organisms that become fossils, such as bones, teeth, skin, leaves, tree trunks.

Question 14

Cast

Answer 14

fossils formed when sediment leaks into a mold and hardens to form a copy of the original structure.

Question 15

compression

Answer 15

Fossils formed when an organism is flattened (compressed), leaving a dark stain in the rock.

Question 16

Coprolite

Answer 16

fossilized feces

Question 17

Decomposer

Answer 17

An organism that breaks down the tissue and/or structures of dead organisms.

Question 18

Erosion:

Answer 18

Weathering or wearing away of rock and earth (and any fossils they contain) caused by wind, sun, and/or water.

Question 19

Fossil:

Answer 19

The natural remains or traces of past life. Something is considered to be a fossil if it is at least 10,000 years old.

Question 20

Fossil Record

Answer 20

:ALL of the fossils that have existed throughout life’s history, whether they have been found or not.

Question 21

Geologic maps

Answer 21

Maps that show the types and ages of rock in an area. These maps are used by paletologists to find areas that are likely to contain fossils they are interested in.

Question 22

Groundwater:

Answer 22

Water found underground as a result of rainfall, ice and snow melt, submerged rivers, lakes, and springs. This water often carries minerals. These mineral can accumulate in the remains of buried organism and eventually caused fossilization

Question 23

Ichnology

Answer 23

The study of trace fossils.

Question 24

Igneous Rock

Answer 24

: Type of rock produced when molten magma (lava) cools and solidifies.

Question 25

Impression:

Answer 25

Fossilized prints or marks made by a an irfiunusms body has been compressed (flattend). Impressions are different from compression because no thin organic material is left behind.

Question 26

Inorganic:

Answer 26

Not containing carbon. Not from living things. Ex., minerals, water, oxygen etc.

Question 27

Intertidal:

Answer 27

The coastal zone measuring from the lowest and highest tide mark. The inter tidal zone is subject to alternating periods of flooding and drying.

Question 28

Macroscopic

Answer 28

: Objects or organisms that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye.

Question 29

Metamorphic Rock:

Answer 29

Rock produced when any type of rock is changed by heat, pressure, and chemical activity in the Earth

Question 30

Microscopic

Answer 30

: Objects or organisms that are to small to be seen with the naked eye.

Question 31

Mineralization:

Answer 31

The process whereby living material is replaced with minerals.

Question 32

Mold

Answer 32

Fossils form when the sediment surrounding a buried organism hardens. When the organism decays, its impression is left in the rock and can be seen if the rock is broken open.

Question 33

Organic

Answer 33

containing carbon. Also referred to characteristic features of living things.

Question 34

Paleontology:

Answer 34

The study of life in the past.

Question 35

Paleontologists:

Answer 35

are scientists who use fossils to study life in the past. There are many questions the fossil record can help us answer.

Question 36

Plate tectonics:

Answer 36

The concept that explains the movement of the Earth’s crustal plates, sea floor spreading, and a number of other geologic processes of the Earth’s surface.

Question 37

Permineralized

Answer 37

: A type of fosilization that happens when minerals transported by water, fill in all open spaces of an orginism.

Question 38

Replacement:

Answer 38

Fosilization processes that occur when an organism is completely decomposed and replaced by minerals.

Question 39

Rock Cycle:

Answer 39

The process through which one type of rock (igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic) is converted into another.

Question 40

: An organism that feeds on dead and dying organisms.

Answer 40

Scavenger

Question 41

Sedimentary Rock:

Answer 41

Rock that is formed when layers of small particles (sediment) are compressed and cemented together.

Question 42

Trace fossil:

Answer 42

Evidence left by organisms, such as burrows, imprints, coprolites, or footprints. Trace fossils are not preserved parts of the organism.

Question 43

Uplift:

Answer 43

The process that causes part of the Earth’s crust to rise above surrounding areas. This can cause layers of rock to become exposed at the surface.