Today's Video

Fossils with Tim&Moby


Moby dug out a bone and thought that it was a fossil, but it belonged to the dog next door. But what makes a fossil, a fossil? A fossil is the remains of an animal. Fossils are usually millions of years old and found deep underground. But, not all living organisms gets fossilized after it dies, in fact, it is a really rare thing that happens. Fossilization happens when something that died got a quick burial or something.
A body fossil is the part of the original organism that has been preserved, like a beetle, trapped in tree sap. Over time, the sap hardens and now, it is a body fossil! Body fossils are found where bacteria and other things that break down organisms can't thrive. Body fossil can also form when a animal dies in the dessert or gets frozen in ice or trapped in a tar pit. Body fossils are the rarest fossil kinds of all.
A trace fossil is the most common type of fossils. It can be footprints of an animal, nests, bite marks, and even animal poop.
Another type of fossil forms when an animal dies and is immediately covered by earth, mud, or sand. The mud covering turns into solid rock after many years. the hardest parts of an animal like it's bones and shells, don't decay for thousands of years. When they do, they left a mold in the rock called a mold fossil, a hollow print. Most of of the time, water will bobble up the mold, filling it with minerals. Over time, the minerals turn into rock, leaving a cast fossil. The cast fossil looks exactly like the original bone or shell.
Also, there is fossil fuels. All the oil, gas, and coal on earth are formed by remains of plants and animals. For example, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, the earth is covered by tropical swamps. When the trees that lived with the swamp died, it sank to the bottom of the swamp. In the swamp, they slowly decompose and everything form into a soggy, spongy thing called peat. Eventually, the peat gets buried under layers and layers of rock. The heat and pressure takes place and after millions of years, peat turn into coal!
We can study a lot about fossils. By looking at the fossil record, we can learn about the entire history of life on earth! The fossil record is just a fancy saying for the total we know about fossils.
Fossils are great things to study. See if you can find the 11th fossil of Tyrannosaurus Rex!