The word fossil comes from the Latin and means 'to dig'.
Fossils give scientists important clues about the age of the earth.
They act as signposts which reveal how and when the rock they are buried in were formed . Tracing the history of rock formations can be a complex process because the burial, folding, faulting and erosion of the earth's crust often produces a complex jumble of different types and ages of formations. Fossils are therefore very useful scientific tools for dating beds of rock. The flesh and other soft parts usually decay quickly and are rarely found as fossils. To form a fossil, the organism must be buried in a protective coating such as mud, sand or silt to prevent the hard parts from being destroyed by scavengers and weather.