What is a fossil and what is a fossil?

Fossils are bones left behind by animals after death, formed after years of differentiation. Something more stone-like.

The remains or remains of paleontology that remain in rocks, most commonly bones and shells, are called fossils.

Fossils are the remains of ancient organisms, relics or relics that remain in rocks, most commonly bones and shells.

Fossils, the remains, relics, or relics of ancient creatures that are buried in the ground and become stone-like things. Studying fossils can help understand the evolution of living animals and help determine the age of strata. The remains of ancient animals or plants preserved in rocks in the earth's crust, or evidence of the existence of human remains, are called fossils.

Fossils have been found from the Archean (3.4 billion years ago) to the Holocene (10,000 years ago).

To put it simply, a fossil is a stone that turns the remains or remains of a creature that lived in the distant past into stone. In the long geological time, there have been countless creatures living on the earth, and many of the remains of these animals after death or traces left by life have been buried by the sediment of that time. In the years that followed, the organic matter in the remains of these creatures was decomposed, and the hard parts such as the shells, bones, branches and leaves, along with the surrounding sediment, were petrified and turned into stone, but their original form, structure (and even some subtle internal structures) remained; In the same way, the traces left by those creatures when they lived can be preserved in this way.

We call these petrified biological remains and relics fossils. From the fossils, you can see the appearance of ancient animals and plants, so that you can infer the living conditions and living environment of ancient animals and plants, you can infer the age of the formation of the strata where the fossils are buried and the changes they have undergone, and you can see the changes of organisms from ancient times to the present, and so on.

Fossils include trilobite fossils, plant fossils, shell fossils, footprint fossils, dinosaur fossils, fish fossils, etc.

In layman's terms, fossils refer to the remains of ancient organisms and traces of life activities preserved in rock formations. In the long geological time, there have been countless organisms living on the earth, and the organic matter in the remains of these organisms has been decomposed over the long years, and the hard parts (such as shells, bones, branches and leaves, etc.) and the surrounding sediment have been retained and buried with the sediment. After a long geological period, the material components of the organism itself are filled or replaced by minerals, becoming as hard as rocks, but their original form and structure are preserved.

After tectonic movements in the earth's crust, rocks and paleontological fossils are exposed, and finally discovered, which is what we call "fossils".

The formation process and preservation conditions of fossils.

1.The condition of the organism itself.

Organic matter must possess hard parts such as shells, bones, teeth, or woody tissue. The shells of invertebrates and the bones of vertebrates are mainly made of minerals, which can resist various destructive effects for a long time. In addition, organisms with cuticle, fibrous and chitin films, such as the leaves of plants and the body walls of pen stones, are easily damaged but do not dissolve easily and can be carbonized into fossils at high temperatures.

Soft bodies such as animal internal organs and muscles are susceptible to oxidation and corrosion, and are generally difficult to become fossils except under very special conditions.

2.Burial conditions.

Creatures must be avoided from destruction immediately after death, and are quickly buried by something that hinders decomposition. Often, the remains of marine animals can be fossilized because they sink to the bottom of the sea and are covered in soft mud after they die. Soft mud becomes shale or limestone in later geological epochs.

3.The time factor.

Biological remains, or their hard parts, must undergo prolonged burial before they can be petrified into fossils by the diagenetic processes of the surrounding sediments. However, there are some fossils preserved in older rock formations that have been destroyed due to deformation and metamorphism of the rock layers.

4.Diagenesis of sediments.

The compaction and crystallization of sediments during consolidation and diagenesis will affect the formation and preservation of fossils. Among them, the compaction of clastic sediments is more significant, so the fossils in clastic sedimentary rocks can rarely maintain their original three-dimensional state.

Meaning]: Fossils, the remains, relics, or relics of ancient creatures that are buried in the ground and become stone-like things.

2. Formation conditions:

1) Organic matter must have hard parts, such as shells, bones, teeth, or woody tissue. However, under very favorable conditions, even very fragile organisms, such as insects or jellyfish, are able to turn into fossils.

2) Creatures must be avoided from destruction immediately after death. If a creature's body parts are crushed, decayed, or severely overborn, this may alter or eliminate the possibility of the organism becoming fossilized.

3) Organisms must be quickly buried by something that hinders decomposition. And the type of material that is buried usually depends on the environment in which the organism lives.