What are the Different Types of Fossils

The oldest rocks exposed in the canyon are ancient, 1,840 million years old. Conversely, the canyon itself is geologically young, having been carved in the last 6 million years.

What is a fossil? People that work with fossils, called paleontologists, use them to obtain an understanding of ancient environments and life processes, and from this understanding can better describe the history of the earth. Thus fossils, in whatever form they appear, may be regarded as evidence of past life.

• Body fossils – Soft parts. The first type, body fossils, are the fossilized remains of an animal or plant, like bones, shells, and leaves.
• Molecular Fossils.
• Trace Fossils.
• Carbon Fossils.
• Pseudofossils.

Five different types of fossils are body fossils, molds and casts, petrification fossils, footprints and trackways, and coprolites.

Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient life that are usually buried in rocks. Examples include bones, teeth, shells, leaf impressions, nests, and footprints. This evidence reveals what our planet was like long ago. Fossils also show how animals changed over time and how they are related to one another.

The Fossil Record as Evidence for Evolution. Fossils tell us when organisms lived, as well as provide evidence for the progression and evolution of life on earth over millions of years.

The fossil records suffer from 3 types of bias: temporal bias, geographic bias and taxonomic bias. Fossil of certain geologic time may be easier to find as compared to those or other era, such as newer fossils are easier to find than older ones. Plate tectonics causes loss or displacement of fossils.