Exam 2- Paleontology and Fossils

Question 1

the study of ancient life using fossils

Answer 1

paleontology

Question 2

remains or traces of ancient life; clues to living things from long ago

Answer 2

fossils

Question 3

Fossils are related to the (geosphere/hydrosphere/biosphere/atmosphere)

Answer 3

biosphere

Question 4

T or F: Paleontology and archaeology are the same thing.

Answer 4

False

Question 5

the study of ancient cultures and human artifacts

Answer 5

archaeology

Question 6

remains (animals, plants, microbes); all or part of the body; show the shape/structure of living thing’s body (ex: sharp teeth)

Answer 6

body fossil

Question 7

marks left by a living thing on its environment (footprints, burrows, tooth marks)

Answer 7

trace fossils

Question 8

T or F: It is hard to connect trace fossils with body fossils

Answer 8

True

Question 9

What do trace fossils show?

Answer 9

Show behavior (what the living thing did while it was alive)

Question 10

how a fossil forms

Answer 10

fossilization

Question 11

What are the four steps of fossilization?

Answer 11

1. Death
2. Burial
3. Petrifaction
4. Erosion and Discovery

Question 12

What is the single most important step in fossilization for something to become a fossil?

Answer 12

Burial

Question 13

physical or chemical changes to fossils; how remains change after they are buried

Answer 13

petrifaction

Question 14

T or F: Fossils go through physical and chemical changes when they become fossilized

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What happens to the remains of living things between death and burial? How does this effect whether or not they become fossils?

Answer 15

If burial happens too slowly, remains are damaged or destroyed, decreasing the chances of the remains becoming fossils

Question 16

The (faster/slower) sediment deposits on top of the fossil, the more likely it is to become a fossil.

Answer 16

faster

Question 17

Where are you most likely to find fossils?

Answer 17

Where sediment is deposited quickly

Question 18

Why are some living things more likely to be fossilized than others? (two reasons)

Answer 18

• Because hard parts (bones, teeth, shells, wood) last longer than soft parts (flesh, hair, feathers, leaves), so they are more likely to become fossilized
• Because of depositional environments: places where sediment builds up and stops moving is better for the remains to become fossilized rather than places of weathering and erosion because sediment is moving away from these areas

Question 19

Most fossils are found underneath _______ rocks.

Answer 19

sedimentary

Question 20

T or F: The more change a fossil goes through, the more shape and chemical information of what it was originally made out of is lost.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

replacement of fossils original material (physical or chemical changes; altered remains)

Answer 21

petrified remains

Question 22

remains that have unaltered from special environments (such as permafrost (frozen sediment) and amber (tree sap))

Answer 22

unaltered remains

Question 23

T or F: Freezing things DOES preserve the DNA in them; this isn’t easy though.

Answer 23

True

Question 24

People go to places where weathering and erosion happens to try and FIND fossils. Why?

Answer 24

Because erosion exposes the layer of strata containing bones and footprints