Fossil
* Every fossil has a tale to tell about past life and the world in which it lived
  - is cither ancestral to some living thing, or is representative of an extinct line
* Learn how they're formed.
* Many fossils are too small to be studied without a microscope.
* Most fossils are actually casts of animals or plants
  - discovered when they are exposed by weathering and erosion
* Most fossils are hard body parts or bone
  - parts such as shells, bone and teeth
  - invertebrates , that is, animals without backbones
  - marine in origin, or are land animals that fell into a water environment
  - of marine animals
  - the imprint or bony remains of an organism
  - begin by having an animal or plant buried in the earth
* Most fossils come from dinosaurs
  - mammals
  - consist of hard body parts such as shells, teeth and bones
* Most fossils form when an organism is buried in sediment before decomposition occurs
  - organisms that die become buried in sediments
* Most fossils occur as bones, shells, or plant debris
  - in sedimentary rock
  - represent extinct species that are, nevertheless, named and classified
* Some fossils appear to represent ancestral forms of modern day animals
  - transitional forms between major groups of animals
* Some fossils are actual remains found in ice, amber tar pits, or sedimentary rocks
  - bones, teeth or shells
  - important because of the information they provide about their habitat
  - only the traces of a creature rather than the remains of the creature
  - preserved as films of carbon under the heat and pressure of deep burial
  - so tiny that they can only be studied using a microscope
  - the actual plant or animal remains that have been altered or mineralized
  - can also be energy resources
  - even show what look like annual growth rings
  - show how an organism lived
* allow to reconstruct past water depth, temperature, salinity, and many other factors.
* also form from molds and casts.
* also help expand scientific knowledge
  - scientists speculate about past environments at the time of sediment deposition
  - make up a major contribution to the economy of modern Texas
  - serve as measures of geologic time
  - show how animals changed over time and how they are related to one another
* are a part of our natural world
  - record of the evoloution of life through geologic time
  - a. b. c. d. remains or traces of preexisting organisms
  - also very important in the dating of the sedimentary rocks in which they are found
* are always bones
  - dead
  - an interesting record of plant and animal life in prehistoric times
  - ancient imprints of organisms found in sedimentary rock
* are any part or trace of an organism that lived long ago
  - remains of ancient life
  - trace of a past life form that has been preserved
  - artifacts of a different kind
  - clues to the past, allowing researchers to reconstruct ancient animals and plants
  - common components of the earth's crust
  - everywhere
* are evidence of ancient life
  - prehistoric life that is preserved in rock
  - that a great variety of species existed in the past
* are found in sedimentary rocks, but almost never in other rock types
  - tertiary formations
  - worldwide, and include skeleton parts, teeth, and body armor
  - fragile, and break easily
  - furthermore useful as indicators of past climatic conditions on the earth
* are important components found in many sedimentary layers
  - for reconstructing polarity of musculoskeletal changes
  - in the correlation of rock strata
* are like a photograph of an animal at a particular point in the history of the Earth
  - pieces of a puzzle
* are located in museums
  - of unique interest to the human race
  - old and usually covered by rocks and dirt
  - one way to establish a relative stratigraphy
  - our best form of evidence about the history of life on Earth
  - particularly common on New World Island
  - rare and are restricted to plant fragments and marine shells
* are records of ancient life on earth
  - the past and provide scientist with a fairly accurate dating method
  - remains or impressions of a plant or animal that have been preserved in rock
  - remnants or impressions of organisms preserved in sediments
  - responsible for our way of life
  - rocks that have fallen on animals with a lot or pressure and very fast
  - scientific evidence for the theory of evolution
* are the hardened remains of life forms, left behind from thousands or millions of years ago
  - plants or animals that lived long ago
  - mineralized or otherwise preserved bodies or impressions of living things
  - most direct evidence of evolutionary change
* are the preserved evidence of past life
  - remains or traces of organisms
  - record of life preserved in monuments of stone
  - remains and traces of life long ago
* are the remains of ancient animals and plants
  - organisms found in the rock record
  - plant and animals or the traces of their activities
* are the remains of animals and plants left in the earth before people lived in the world
  - plants that lived on earth many millions of years ago
  - creatures which lived in the past
* are the remains of living creatures, both plants and animals
  - things from millions of years ago
  - organisms that became trapped and preserved in ancient sedimentary rock
* are the remains of plants and animals found in rock
  - animals that have been preserved in rock
  - very ancient life that has been preserved by natural processes
* are the remains or evidence of plants and animals that are found in rock
  - impressions of ancient life, often preserved in rock
* are the remains or traces of ancient life that are usually buried in rocks
  - once-living organisms
  - organisms that lived in the past
  - remains, impressions, or traces of organisms preserved in rock
  - therefore very useful scientific tools for dating beds of rock
  - traces of life from long ago
  - used to provide the relative ages of the rocks in which they are found
  - valuable data for reconstructing the history of life
  - very important for determining the age of sedimentary rocks
* are very rare, consisting of pelagic organisms and brachiopods
  - windows which serve as insights into nature's past
  - written documents of evolution
* can also provide evidence of the evolutionary history of organisms.
* can be animals, plants, shells, bones, or even eggs
  - anything from preserved bones and teeth to shells of ancient creatures
  - as tiny as a seed
  - body parts of ancient organisms, or they can be traces
  - the hardened remains of either plant or animal life
  - document transitional animals
* can form in other ways
  - unusual ways
  - include ancient remains , the actual bodies of ancient life
  - only form under special conditions
* collected in Pakistan also help in deciphering the origins of whales.
* come in all sizes
  - many shapes and sizes
* contain isotopes of elements that accumulated in the living organisms.
* define a specific time horizon.
* do play a role in modern society.
* exist all over the world
  - in order to test our faith
* form only if remains are buried in sediment
  - burried in sediment
  - under certain conditions
* formed by cyanobacteria are called stromatolite s.
* give clues to phylogeny, how one animal species is related to another
  - scientists important clues about the age of the earth
* help geologists establish the relative geologic ages of layers of rock
  - people learn how life on Earth developed
  - scientists determine the age of the layered rocks
  - to illustrate changes from ancient organisms to the present
* illustrate how all forms of life are interdependent and affected by their environment.
* indicate that many organisms that lived long ago are extinct
  - long ago are now extinct
  - swamps have changed to plains, forests to grass-lands and finally to deserts
  - the Blue Whale at one time, grew to more than twice the size it does today
  - tropical plants once lived on what is now Antarctica
* is an object
* occur in a consistent vertical order in sedimentary rocks all over the world
  - sedimentary rocks in the Valley and Ridge region of western Virginia
  - on every continent and on the ocean floor
  - only in sedimentary rocks
* often become deformed through the pressure of overlying rock and geological forces.
* primarily form sedimentary rocks.
* provide a means of evaluating concepts of homology and species.
* provide a record of life that existed on Earth millions of years ago
  - clear evidence that evolution has occurred
  - clues on how life evolved
* provide clues to Earth's history
  - what life was like in Minnesota in ancient times
* provide evidence of Earth's climate and how it has changed over millions of years
  - important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed
  - several different kinds of clues about the diets of extinct animals
* provide the evidence for the history of life on Earth
  - that life has evolved interactively with Earth through geologic time
  - only direct evidence of the history of evolution
* push back origin of land animals.
* raise questions about human origins.
* range from dinosaur teeth and dinosaur dung to trilobites, mammoth hair, and fossil seeds.
* represent a record of past life because it bone, shell or even a body part
  - the remains or traces of once-living organisms
* require quick and tremendous pressure to be formed
  - rapid burial to be preserved
* seem to be constantly extending their geological time ranges.
* serve as time markers.
* show adaptation to change, or lack of adaptation
  - early diversity of life
* show how life has evolved within the framework of the environment
  - much, or how little, organisms have changed over time
  - some reptiles became more bird-like
* show past life, extinct species, and environmental changes over time
  - species,and environmental changes over time
* show that mountain beaver ancestors once ranged as far as Mongolia
  - their bodies adapted gradually to an aquatic way of life
  - what kinds of animal s and plant s lived in certain areas
* speak of death, and death results only from sin and judgment.
* suggest that many species remain unchanged for long periods of geological time.
* support evolution by providing a record of early life and evolutionary history.
* tell scientists about the plants and animals that once lived on Earth
  - what life was like long ago
  - the story of the earth
* tend to get younger as one travels south towards the coast.
* typically form in sedimentary rocks.
* usually occur in sedimentary rock, such as chalk, limestone, and sandstone.
* vary in size from microscopic , such as single cells, to gigantic, such as dinosaurs.
+ Temnospondyli
  * Fossils have been found on every continent. Their evolutionary history spans 210 million years. During this time, they adapted to a wide range of habitats including fresh water, terrestrial, and even coastal marine environments. Fossils are known from the larval stage, metamorphosis, and maturity. Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, although some were almost fully terrestrial, returning to the water only to breed. These temnospondyls were some of the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on land. Although temnospondyls are considered amphibians, many had characteristics such as scales, claws, and armour-like bony plates which modern amphibians do not have.