Fossils

- is the naturally preserved remains or traces of animals or plants that lived in the
geologic past.
Types of Fossils
- There are two main categories of fossils; body and trace.
Body fossils include the remains of organisms that were once living
1.) Body Fossils
- entire remains of prehistoric organisms including soft tissue, such as insects
embalmed in tree sap that hardens to create amber. Bones and teeth are the most
common type of fossils.
- Body fossils include:
1. Bones
2. Teeth and Claws
3. Eggs and Embryos
4. Skin
5. Muscles, Tendons, Organs and Blood Vessels (rare)
2.) Molds and Casts
- other types of body fossils.
- A mold is an imprint left by the shell of a hard skeleton on surrounding rock. Either
internal or external
- An internal mold is on the underside of shell left on the surface of rock that formed
when sand or mud filled the inside of the shell.
- An external mold is on the outside of the shell
- Replicas of molds are known as casts
Trace fossils are the signs that organisms were present (i.e. footprints, tracks, trails, and
burrows).
- record the movements and behaviors of prehistoric organisms.
1. Footprints and Trackways
- Footprints, trackways, trails and burrows through mud sometimes harden and become
fossils known as trace fossils
 - Give information about how animals behaved when they were alive, such as how they
moved and how and where they fed.
- Trackways, which are several footprints together, sometimes include impressions
made by another part of the creature, such as its tail dragging behind it.
2. Coprolites (Fossilized feces) or Dung-stone
- give clues to where certain animals lived and what they ate.
- Coprolites are rare because feces usually decay quickly. The most common coprolites
are of sea organisms, particularly fish and reptiles.
- They consist of indigestible remains of the organism's food, such as pieces of scale,
teeth, shell and bone.
- Coprolites are preserved by petrification or cast and mold.
3. Burrows and Nests
- Shows the behavior of prehistoric organisms.
4. Toothmarks
- Mostly found in bones
5. Gizzard rocks
- Some dinosaurs swallowed stones to help grind their food.
- These stones, called gastroliths, have been found as fossils. They are usually smooth,
polished, and rounded.

Types of Preservation of Fossils

- Fossils are preserved in two main ways: with and without alteration.
- Preservation without alteration includes the use of molds and the collection of indirect
evidence.
- Preservation with alteration includes carbonization, petrifaction, recrystallization and
replacement.
Preservation without alteration
- Includes preservation of small insects inside an amber
1. Casting / Molding
- an indirect way of preserving fossils.
 - Indirect means that the chemical composition of the organic matter does not change,
rather it lays in a substance that makes an impression of the matter.
- Common examples include castings of fern leaves and snail shells.
2. Trace Fossils
- another type of indirect preservation of fossils.
- Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals moved through the undergrowth and along
top soil that was later covered with other debris.
- In some cases, their tracks were preserved and can be dug up and cut out of the
ground.
- Preserved, fossilized dung provides fossil experts with evidence of ancient food
sources and the structure of prehistoric digestive system.
Preservation with Alteration
1. Carbonization
- Carbonization often occurs in the preservation of plants and soft organisms.
- The remains of the plant or animal are crushed beneath the weight of the rock.
- The gases, including hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, are off gassed through the
process of heat and compression. What is left behind is a carbon film, an impression
of the former living thing.
2. Petrifaction/Permineralization
- The most common method of fossilization
- Petrifaction occurs when a porous material such as a bone or shell becomes filled
with preserving material such as calcium carbonate or silica.
- The original shell or bone becomes buried below the ground and water penetrates the
surface.
- The groundwater contains the calcium carbonate that fills the empty spaces in the
material, which over time, hardens and fills the pores full of minerals that preserve
the item.
3. Recrystallization
- During this process, microscopic crystal structure and internal detail of the fossil is
lost; however, external details may be preserved.
- Recrystallization often occurs in shell fossils and is the process by which the small
molecule crystals inside a shell often formed of one type of calcium carbonate can
transform to another type of calcium carbonate.
 - In this type of preservation, the mineral composition of original hard part is
recrystallized.
- This stabilizes the shell and turns it into a fossil.
4. Replacement
- Replacement is when the atomic composition of the original living thing is replaced
cell by cell by a new chemical structure.
- Typically, the chemical that replaces the original is determined by the groundwater
the fossil is lying in.
- A common type of replacement is silification. This is when the original living remains
are replaced with silica as in the case of petrified forests.
Naming Fossils / Scientific Nomenclature
- Fossils are classified according to an international “name-giving” system called
nomenclature.
- The classification system was first proposed by the Swedish naturalist: Carl von
Linné (a.k.a Linnaeus).
- The classification is mainly based on visual, anatomical, physical and chemical
properties. However, there is also a connection with evolution, and environmental
aspects, as well as genetics.
- The classification is based on a hierarchical classification in different categories. The
primary categories in the systematic naming are as follows:

Empire (Regnum)
-- Division (Phylum)
---- Class (Classis)
------ Order (Ordo)
-------- Family (Familia)
---------- Genus (Genus)
------------ Species (Species)
-------------- Subspecies (Subspecies)

Description of Species
(Bolded are important)
- Each known species is described in a scientific journal, or paper.
- If it turns out that a species has been described by different authors, the first (in this
case the oldest) paper, has the right to give his proposed name to the species.
 When describing a species, a reference sample is also appointed. We call this
specimen, the Holotype. This is the fossil, upon which the description is based.
- The Holotype (type specimen) is unique in his kind, it has been described as the
reference to an entire species, and includes all the diagnostic features of
this species.
- As is the case in scientific studies, this holotype has to be preserved in an accessible
place (for example: in the scientific collection of a museum or other public
collection). Also, the fossil should remain accessible to further scientific research in
the future.
- A Lectotype on the other hand, is a type specimen introduced after the
regulations concerning holotypes changed. If a Holotype or Lectotype is lost a
Neotype may be designated. All other specimens besides Holotype called Paratypes.

Scientific names of Fossils

1. When designating the name of a fossil, Usually the genus and species name are
mentioned. In some cases, even the subspecies can be mentioned. The name of
a genus and subgenus is always written with a capital letter. The species however, is
an exception to this rule, no capital letter is used. Both genus and species name are
written in italic. The names are often, but not always, written in Latin or at least
Latinized. We call this the scientific name of a fossil.

Example: Agnostus pisiformis (Trilobite)

2. If the genus, or subgenus, is the only known part of an identification, the abbreviation
"sp." is used. This indicates all the known species residing under the genus (or
subgenus). If the species is known, but not the subspecies, the abbreviations "ssp."
(subspecies) is used. In the case where the genus is not known, usually the name of
the family or higher category is mentioned.

Example: Favosites sp. (extinct tabulate coral) OR Megacardita planicosta ssp.

(mollusk)

3. When there is doubt concerning to the exact species, one can use the
abbreviation cf. This Latin word means: "confer" or "compare". You can read it as
"similar to...". For Agnostus sp., which resembles an A. pisiformis, but is still different,
we write the following:

Example: Agnostus cf. pisiformis

4. Following right after the name of the fossil, is the name of the author who first
described this particular species. Also mentioned, is the year of publication. This
gives a an indication to the reader / researcher in what year the publication was published
(and where one can find the list with diagnostic features). You can read the example
below as: Agnostus pisiformis, as described in Linnaeus, 1757 ', where' Linnaeus, 1757
'represents a specific publication.

Example: Agnostus pisiformis Linnaeus, 1757

5. The author and year are written between brackets, if the species was originally described
by another author.

Example: Aequipecten opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758) – Queen scallop

6. If a subgenus has been described, it should be listed in parentheses after the genus.

Example: Neptunea (Sulcosopho) angulata (Wood, 1848) – extinct sea snail

7. If a subspecies is known, they should be listed after the species.

Example: Pygocardia rustica defrancei

8. Sometimes “forms” or varieties can be distinguished within a species or subspecies. They

are indicated by the term "forma " (meaning formative) and then the name.

Example: Caracomia arctica forma spinosa Hildebrand-Habel and Streng, 2003

Video links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID7qhn1ipmw

(How fossils are formed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQBkawjFVIA

(Fossil types)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rkGu0BItKM

(fossil types)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f5HehQovx8

(how dinosaurs become fossils)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY6kSa-Dtf0

(dinosaur fossils animation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrdmw_Ioovk

(how dinosaurs are named)