Fossils

The photograph shows a swamp. Which animal would most likely be found in the swamp?

• A) Bear

• B) Coyote

• C) Gopher

• D) Heron

A scientist found fossils of freshwater animals in rock layers deep inside the ocean. What information do such fossils provide?

• In the past, all oceans were shallow bodies of water.

• The area was part of a pond or a lake at one time.

• Animals usually moved between land and oceans in the past.

• The water level in oceans kept increasing and decreasing in the past.

A scientist found a fossil of a musk ox in a desert. The scientist learned that the animal had thick, shaggy hair that was 60 cm long. The image shows how the musk ox may have looked. What might the scientist conclude from studying the fossil?

• Musk oxen were once common in the desert.

• The area had freshwater flowing through it in the past.

• The area had a cold climate at some time in the past.

• Musk oxen lost their long hair to adapt to a desert climate.

What information can the fossil shown reveal?

• diet of the organism before it died

• environment in which the organism lived when it died

• how the organism died

• number of offspring produced by the organism before it died

The fossils of a whale and other sea creatures have been discovered on top of a mountain, which is 2,000 feet above sea level and 25 miles away from the coast. What can be inferred about the environmental conditions on the mountain millions of years ago?

• A. It was once a desert.

• B. It was once a volcano.

• C. It was once covered by a sea.

• D. It was once covered by a river.

A researcher finds a large fossil of the top half of a tooth of a species of crocodile that lived around 122 million years ago. Which tool and unit of measurement should the researcher use to measure the width of the fossilized top half of the tooth?

• balance; grams

• ruler; millimeters

• stopwatch; seconds

• thermometer; degrees Celsius

In which environment did mammoths most likely live?

• cold region

• desert

• ocean

• tropical region

A student visits the Yuha Desert in California and finds varieties of oyster and barnacle fossils in the desert. What can the student infer about the past environment of the desert from the fossils?

• The desert was previously covered by a sea.

• The desert was previously a mountain.

• The desert previously had large amounts of rainfall.

• The desert previously had a warmer climate.

What caused the impression in the rock?

• An organism was buried in sediment.

• An organism slept under the rock.

• An organism fed on the minerals in the rock.

• An organism was covered in snow.

Examine the image of a rock. A geologist finds the rock while hiking a mountain range. What can the geologist conclude about the mountain range based on the rock?

• The mountain range was once a desert.

• The mountain range was once covered with plants.

• The mountain range was once underwater.

• The mountain range was once colder.