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| FOSSILS. Ancient Life in Stone. |
Would you like to see something that lived millions of
years ago? You can if you find a fossil.
The remains or traces of plants, animals, and even
bacteria that are preserved in stone are called 'fossils'. If you've ever
pressed a coin into some clay and then remove it, you’ve seen the sort of image
that's found in many fossils. The original thing isn’t there anymore, but there’s
an impression of it left in the stone.
Many fossils are easy to recognize as the living
things they once were. Usually the harder portions of an organism are the parts
that last long enough to turn into fossils. Sometimes the hard structures are
preserved almost whole. For instance, entire fossilized dinosaur bones have
been petrified, or changed into a stony substance.
Fossils are not always easy to find. Only a small
fraction of all ancient life ever turned into fossils. And the fossils that did
form are often buried deep underground.
You can tell that the fossils in the big photo used to
be fish. However, they died millions of years ago. They sank to the riverbed
and were covered with soft mud. Their flesh wasted away but their bones were
held together by the mud.
FOSSILS. Ancient Life in Stone.
Eventually the river dried up. It was filled with dust
and dirt blown by the wind. The bones of the fish stayed where they were.
Slowly, the mud from the riverbed turned to stone.
Finally, someone found this fossil while digging where
the river used to be.
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