Fantastic Fossils
The only way we have of learning about dinosaurs is by studying
fossils. Fossils are the remains of ancient animals and plants and
they have been found on every continent on Earth.
For remains to be considered fossils, scientists have decided
they have to be over 10,000 years old. There are two main types
of fossils - body fossils and trace fossils.
How Are Fossils Made?
To investigate how fossils are made, we are going
to look at an example of a fish!
The animal dies and its
e
body is washed down th
ft
river, where it lays on so
ckly.
mud and is buried qui
Then, all the muscle and flesh rot
away from the skeleton, leaving
only the bones behind. These drift
apart over time.
After mil ions of years the surface
of the Earth changes, with
mountains rising over the area
where the sea once was, and these
then in turn get worn down by
extreme weather.
ins
e the rema
s ar
Trace fossil of an animal,
ity
of the activ ways, fossilized
ck
such as tra ts, footprints
s
gg shel s, ne (fossilised
e
d coprolites
an
osaur poo!).
din
Now, due to changes on the Ea
rth's
surface, the sea now covers th
e
area where the river once wa
s.
Pressure from the sea is turn
ing
the sand into sandstone.
Body fossils are
the
remains of a pla
nt or
animal's body.
12 | SPARK
Now the mountain area is
a desert, and a tip of the
fossilised bone is revealed.
Palaeontologists now uncover the
rest of the animal, revealing all the
fossilised bones.
13 | SPARK