what a fossil is
fossil (latin for  obtained by digging ) is the preserved remains or traces of organisms (plants, animals, etc) that lived in the distant past.ossils are most often preserved within sediments that were deposited in water, such as wetlands, river basins, or the ocean. Permineralization or Petrification-After an organism is buried, minerals carried by water such as silica, calcite or pyrite replace the organic material in the fossil.