A Type of Organism Is Blank if It No Longer Exists and Will Never Again Live on Earth

TEKS 5.7D Place fossils as evidence of past living organisms and the nature of the environments at the time using models.

TEKS Lesson 5.7D: Fossils

What is a fossil?

Scientists who study certain kinds of rocks ofttimes go an idea of what life on Earth was like millions of years ago. They may uncover footprints that a dinosaur made as it walked through mud 100 meg years ago. Or they may detect teeth that belonged to a
canis familiaris-sized horse that lived most 50 1000000 years ago.

These footprints and teeth in stone are examples of fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of living things. Fossils give evidence well-nigh the nature of organisms that lived in the past. Fossils also tell about the organisms' environments.

Many fossils can exist found in rock. For case, trilobites were animals whose fossils
are found in ancient shale. Shale is a rock that can form over time in shallow h2o. Trilobites were hard-shelled animals that lived in the sea about 500 million years agone.

i. IdentifyWhat are fossils? Where are they typically found? Place what types of evidence fossils provide about the past.

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How do fossils form?

Most fossils course when living things die and are cached past sediment. Pieces of rock, soil, or other fabric on Earth's surface are chosen sediment. Over time, sediment presses together and hardens into sedimentary stone. This stone preserves the shapes of the in one case-living things. Sandstone, shale, limestone, and coal are examples of sedimentary stone. Scientists usually find fossils in these kinds of sedimentary rock.

Fossils in Stone Fossils form when the remains or traces of an organism are protected from decay. Most fossils course from animals or plants that one time lived in or near repose water. Quiet water can exist institute in places such every bit swamps, lakes, or shallow seas. Suppose an organism dies. Its soft parts frequently decay speedily or are eaten by animals. That is why typically only the hard parts of a plant or an animate being leave fossils. These hard parts include basic, teeth, shells, seeds, or woody stems. It is rare for the soft parts of an organism to become a fossil.

The figure below shows an example of how a fish fossil can form in sedimentary rock. Erosion may wear away the stone. Then the fossil becomes visible.

ii. ListWhich parts of an fauna or a institute are most likely to become fossilized?

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Trace Fossils Testify of the activities of ancient life forms comes from trace fossils. A fossilized footprint is one example of a trace fossil. The mud or sand that the beast stepped in was buried past layers of sediment. Slowly the sediment became solid rock. This rock preserved the footprint for millions of years.

• Fossil footprints can tell scientists virtually an beast'due south size and behavior. Did the animal walk on two legs or four legs? Did it live alone or every bit role of a group?
• Other types of trace fossils also requite clues about past living things and their behavior. A trail or burrow can give clues nearly the size and shape of an animal. It can also requite clues about where the animal lived and how it obtained food.

Other Types of Fossils Other fossils course when the remains of organisms are preserved in substances such as tar, amber, or ice. For example, ancient animals have been preserved in bister. Bister is the hardened sap of evergreen trees. Showtime, an insect is trapped on the viscous sap and dies. And so more than sap covers information technology. The sap seals the insect from the air. This roofing protects the insect's body from disuse.

3. Identify FossilsIdentify the type of fossil that preserves evidence of an animal's beliefs.

1. carbon flick
2. sediments
3. preserved remains
4. trace fossil

What evidence do fossils provide about past living organisms?

Scientists collect fossils from sedimentary rocks all over the world. They written report the fossils to decide what past life forms were like. They want to acquire what past animals looked similar, what they ate, and what ate them. They also want to know how these animals cared for their young and how they moved around. For example, fossils of wastes from aboriginal animals provide evidence of what the animals ate. Dinosaur tracks tin give evidence about how many legs a dinosaur walked on, how fast it moved, and when it lived. Dinosaur tracks may likewise give evidence virtually the social behavior of dinosaurs. For instance, tracks can bear witness whether dinosaurs moved in herds.

• Together, all the data that scientists have gathered about by life is called the fossil tape. The fossil record provides evidence about the history of life.
• The fossil record reveals a surprising fact: Fossils occur in a particular order. Older rocks contain fossils of simpler organisms. Younger rocks comprise fossils of more complex organisms. In other words, the fossil record shows that life on Earth changed over time. Simple, 1-celled organisms gradually gave rise to complex plants and animals.
• The fossil record also shows that many types of organisms have go extinct. A blazon of organism is extinct if it no longer exists and will never again live on World.

4. ReviewWhat term best describes a type of animal that no longer exists?

1. preserved
2. extinct
3. complex
4. trace fossil

What testify do fossils provide about past environments?

Scientists also want to know well-nigh the surroundings in the past. Scientists use fossils to build a picture of World'due south past environments. The fossils establish in an area tell whether the area was a shallow bay, an ocean bottom, or a freshwater swamp.

• Fossils also requite evidence near the by climate of a region. For case, coal has been found in Antarctica. You may know that thick layers of ice and snowfall at present encompass Antarctica. Only coal only forms from the remains of plants that grow in warm, swampy regions. The presence of coal shows that the climate of Antarctica was once much warmer than it is today.
• Scientists can use fossils to learn nearly changes in World's surface. For example, fossils may give show that an area of dry out plains once had many lakes and swamps.

5. SummarizeWhat tin can scientists learn from fossils well-nigh the past environment in an area?

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6. Identify EvidenceSuppose you found fossils of ancient seashells and fish when you lot went for a walk in a dry, rocky area. How could you use these fossils equally evidence to identify the nature of the surroundings of that expanse when the organisms were alive?

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Lesson Cheque

  1. Listing What are 3 things scientists tin can learn nigh an organism from its fossil?

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  two. Review Are all fossils fabricated of rock? Explain.

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  3. Predict Which of the following could become a fossil?

1. A mud
2. B crystal
3. C mollusk crush
4. D volcanic rock

  4. Identify Show Identify what the fossil tape shows about past living organisms on Earth.

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  five. Infer What do deposits of coal tell almost the past surround of Antarctica?

1. Antarctica'south climate was much colder.
2. Antarctica's climate has stayed the same.
3. Antarctica'southward climate was much warmer.
4. Antarctica must have always had a cool climate.

  6. Identify Evidence A scientist finds a trace fossil of an animate being's hugger-mugger couch. The burrow contains a fossil jawbone. The jawbone belonged to a small-scale mammal with teeth for eating seeds. What can you place well-nigh the environment where this mammal lived?

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Source: https://www.dentonisd.org/cms/lib/TX21000245/Centricity/Domain/4868/5.7d%20Fossil%20types.htm

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