Fossils And Time Flashcards
Fossils
The preserved remains of living organisms or the traces of these animals when they were alive
Trace fossils
Evidence of behaviour (tracks/burrows)
Body fossils
Hard parts either whole or fragments (bones/shell)
How do organisms fossilise
1: decay of soft tissues of plant/animals
2: transport and breakdowns of hard tissues
3: burials and modification of the hard tissues
Extant
Still alive today
Extinct
Organisms no longer alive today
Species
A group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring
Morphological species
A species grouped using morphological similarities (what they look like)
Mode of life
Refers to the way an organism lived (typically the way it moved)
Fossil assemblages
A group of fossils that tells us about the environment
Death assemblages
Collection of organisms found in a different place/position than they occupied in life
Life assemblages
Collection of organisms found with sediments in the same position as they would’ve been in life
Derived fossils
Weathered out of 1 rock and redeposited in another
Catastrophism
The idea that rocks and structures are formed by violent, large scale, short lived events
Gradualism
The idea that it take millions of years of gradual change to alter rocks and structures
