Fossils

What is a fossil?

• The full remains of previously living organisms.

• A record of previous environmental and tectonic changes.

• The hardened or trace remains of some previously living organisms.

• A really old adult.

What happens in petrification?

• Minerals replace or move into the structure of a previously living organism.

• A fossil is shocked into formation.

• Rocks that form from an organism.

• A calcified version of the hard parts of a previously living organism.

What type of fossil is best used to determine how a previously living organism once behaved?

• Petrified Fossils

• Trace Fossils

• Molds

• Casts

How can a we track organism evolution by looking at fossils (there can be more than one correct option)?

• We place fossils onto a geologic time scale.

• We compare fossils to today's organisms.

• We identify where the fossil lived.

• We trace fossil structure of similar looking fossils throughout geologic history.

What is the fossil record?

• A record of a single fossil throughout time.

• A record of changes between two fossils.

• A record of where fossils are found around Earth.

• A record of all fossils throughout Earth's history.

What conditions must be in place for a fossil to form?

• A fossil needs to be exposed to Earth's surface (through erosion or uplift).

• An organism needs to be rapidly buried.

• A fossil must lay undisturbed for a very long period of time.

• An organism must die during competition.

How many organisms are preserved in the fossil record?

• Most.

• None.

• All.

• Few.

What type of fossil forms when the inside of a space within an organism becomes filled with minerals?

• Trace.

• Petrified.

• Cast.

• Mold.

How were fossils used to prove Alfred Wegener's theory of Continental Drift?

• He found that the same fossil was located on different continents, suggesting those continents used to be next to each other.

• He used them as a backdrop during his press conference.

• He used them to construct a detailed Geologic Time Scale.

• He identified relevant fossil organisms.

What do fossils found within the same rock layer tell us?

• Extinction events.

• The organisms lived on Earth at the same time.

• The fossils were buried alongside each other.

• Someone put them there.