By studying these fossils I will be learning about the climate and environment in the Silurian and Devonian Periods of the Paleozoic Era. A fossil is any remains, trace, or imprint of a plant or an animal naturally preserved in sediments or rocks from past geologic times. Typically, for fossils to form, the material must be buried rapidly, usually by waterborne sediment.
Paleontology is the study of fossils to help learn about ancient life.
Fall Brook is a very well-known place in the Geneseo area. The area of Fall Brook, which was located close to the equator during the Middle Devonian Period, was covered by warm, shallow seas that teemed with life. New York was covered by inland seas during that time, and there is evidence that suggests the region occasionally rose above sea level and was subjected to erosion. To find fossils, I had to search for the correct layers of shale that were formed when climatic conditions included long sunlit days, warm temperatures, low turbidity, and an environment that had a good food supply and was conducive to life. Most of the fossils I found were in the gray shale rather than the thin interbedded layers of limestone.