Fossilization Explanations

Fossilization science experiments yield the following Fossilization explanations and types of fossilization.

Type of Fossilization 1: Original Fossils Remains

The seashell represents the first type of fossilization. Paleontologists call fossils by this type of fossilization original fossils remains.

Original Fossils Remains are fossils that do not change when an animal dies. Besides shells, the fossils remains can include teeth and bones. 

If conditions are right, the softer parts of an animal 's body may be preserved in fossilization as well.

Tar, quicksand, bogs, and even glacial ice can preserve animal flesh for thousands of years. Delicate insects have been preserved in amber, the hardened and gemlike state of tree sap.

Type of Fossilization 2: Replaced Fossils Remains

The yarn represents what paleontologists call replaced remains. These fossils consist of animal or plant matter that has been mineralized. The minerals such as calcite, quartz, and pyrite-are carried by groundwater and seep into organic tissue, gradually replacing it. But the mineral replacement copies the original material very closely, as anyone who has even seen a petrified tree knows.

Type of Fossilization 3: Carbonized Remains

The leaf rubbings imitate delicate carbonized remains that paleontologists sometimes find in hard shale. These remains are exact copies of the organisms, and their details can tell scientists much about the ancient plant world.

Type of Fossilization 4: Carbonized Fossil

A carbonized fossil is formed when a leaf or other delicate plant structure is buried in mud. While the mud turns to shale, the leaf changes chemically until only the carbon is left, leaving a thin film on the shale.
The clay mold illustrates the mold, imprint, and cast fossil. This type of fossilization occurs when animal or plant material is buried in mud. The mud turns into hard shale, and eventually the organic material dissolves, leaving a mold behind. If the shale develops small cracks, mineral-laden groundwater seeps into the mold and creates a detailed cast of the dissolved material. Many ocean fossils, such as the trilobite, are preserved this way.

Type of Fossilization 5: Trace Fossils

The handprint represents the fifth type of fossilization. Paleontologists call fossils by this method of fossilization trace fossils. These are imprints in sedimentary rock that you imitated by adding sand to the plaster. The footprints of dinosaurs are trace fossils. So are wormholes and other burrows of insects in soft rock. Trace fossils are different from other fossils because they tell paleontologists about the activity of an animal while it was still alive.

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