Fossils (Standards 8.E.6A.2&5) Test Review

What is a fossil?

• any dead organism over 200 years old

• the preserved remains or traces of an organism

• an extrusive igneous rock

• a foliated metamorphic rock

A fossil must be: naturally formed, created by organic processes, and at least 10,000 years old. Which of the following groups contain only fossils?

• Egyptian Mummy, Ancient Pottery, Shrimp burrows in sandstone

• Imprints of rain drops, Trilobite shells, Mud cracks

• Dinosaur tracks, Mammoth found in ice, Seashells found in limestone

• Stone Age tools, Giant shark teeth, Seashells found on a beach

All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT ____.

• quick burial by sediments

• hard parts

• protection from scavengers

• activities of microorganisms

A fossil formed when minerals replace all or part of an organism is called a __

• mold

• petrified remains

• cast

• trace fossil

Which of the following types of fossils may allow a scientist to infer how quickly a species could run?

• Trace fossils of dinosaur footprints

• A cast of a dinosaur egg.

• The original remains of a dinosaur tooth.

• A petrified dinosaur skull.

The fossils of organisms that were widely distributed but only lived during a short period of time are called ____.

• trace fossils

• petrified remains

• index fossils

• carbon films

Trilobites are index fossils because they ____.

• changed slowly through time

• lived over large areas of the world

• exhibit specific characteristics

• all of the above

Determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the position of rocks in a sequence is called ____.

• absolute dating

• radiometric dating

• relative dating

• radiocarbon dating

If the same types of fossils are found in two separate rock layers, it's likely that the two rock layers ____.

• formed at different times

• are part of one continuous deposit

• formed under different conditions

• none of the above

A limestone bed containing fossils that are 550 million years old is ____ a bed of sandstone containing fossils that are 400 million years old.

• younger than

• the same age as

• older than

• not related to