Today, many of us know that fossils are the preserved remains—or, more precisely, traces—of animals, plants, and bacteria that died thousands to millions of years ago.
These remains were then buried underwater or underground, where they were absorbed or transformed into rock. However, it wasn’t until the 17th and 18th centuries that early geologists and anthropologists attempted to determine what fossils really were and whether they were real.
Fossils are seen as the remains of ancient organisms, ancient animal or human skeletons (larger skeletons from the vast majority of humans), or forms formed over time by the growth of salt crystals.
Eventually, the scientific community gained a better understanding of fossils through various advances in the scientific process and the advent of newer scientific tools and techniques. Many of them admit that fossils are the traces or remains of animals and other living things that died long ago.
However, probably none of these early scientists could have imagined how we use fossils today! We use them to learn more about our own history as humans and our planet.
We use them as tools to explore, probe and delve into billions of years of Earth’s history.
What exactly do fossils show us? How much do they reveal about when they formed? How does the environment change with each successive epoch? How old are fossils? How far back do fossils go and tell us what the Earth was like back then? Most importantly, will it help us figure out what the first complex life on Earth was? These are the questions geologists are asking about fossils today.
It sounds like we’re expecting so many answers from fossils, especially since there are so many; they can’t be that special. But the truth is – they are! Fossilization is the process by which animal or plant remains become or become fossilized, and are extremely rare. Paleontologists believe that less than 0.1 percent of all living species that have ever inhabited Earth throughout history have fossilized, and few, if any, have been found.
Living things decay and decompose when they die. To form a fossil, an animal must have a hard exterior or body part, such as bones, teeth, shells, or, in the case of plants, woody tissue. These remains must then be quickly buried to stop decomposition.
So fossils are not just reflections of our past. They are real objects preserved from that era that, if examined, could tell us more about how we evolved as a planet, and maybe even give us clues about the future.
