Fossil formation

Question 1

Where can fossils form ?

Answer 1

. Shallow lakes
. Marshes
. Peat
. Swamps
. Dry cave deposits
. Trapped in ice
. Amber
. Marine habitats
.

Question 2

What are fossils ?

Answer 2

Preserved remains of organisms that once lived in the past

Question 3

Examples of fossils

Answer 3

. Footprints 
. Tracks
. Burrows
. Nests 
. Bones
. Tissue

Question 4

Fossilisation limitations

Answer 4

. Decay of organisms

. Wet, acidic soils

Question 5

fossilisation aided by

Answer 5

. soils with no oxygen
. rapid burial
. low temperatures
. alkaline soils

Question 6

Petrification steps

Answer 6

When bone is turned to rock
. Organism dies 
. Quickly covered by soil and sediments 
. mineralisation 
. Bone turns to stone and is now a fossil

Question 7

Tissue fossilisation steps

Answer 7

. Quickly covered by sediment
. Acidic soils preserve soft tissue
. Low oxygen keeps bacteria away

Question 8

Why are fossils found so rarely ?

Answer 8

• fossilisation conditions are rare
• many stay buried and are undiscovered
• eaten by scavengers before turning to fossil
• weathered/decayed
• deep underground

Question 9

how do fossils help with the past ?

Answer 9

. Fossils:

• show structure of organism
• help to identify organism that existed
• show relatedness of organism
• shows evolution

. Artefacts:

• man made
• show culture and activities

. Kitchen middens:
- show diet

Question 10

Why is fossil record important

Answer 10

. Shows relatedness between species
. Provides evidence of organisms that lived in the past
. transitional organism could be observed
. it would provide evidence of when extinctions had occurred