FOSSILS

People that discover and work with fossils are called Palaeontologists. Fossils help us to gain an understanding of life in the past in many different ways. Fossils are 'preserved' items such as bone, wood or shells, and are also 'impressions' of things long gone, like footprints for example.

The size of a fossil can range from a whole dinosaur skeleton to a tiny seed only visible under a microscope. By looking at fossils we can piece together a picture of ancient life on our planet.

HOW FOSSILS ARE FORMED

A dead dinosaur lies exposed on the earth's surface

The body is gradually covered over by layers of dust and plant life

After millions of years of pressure, the ground around the bones gradually turns to rock

Ground erosion eventually brings the fossilised bones back toward the surface.

Fossils can tell us what lived at a certain time, what its environment and diet was probably like. For example, if a dinosaur skeleton is found with pine needles or seed fossils inside it we assume that the dinosaur was probably a plant eater. If however a skeleton of a large dinosaur is found with smaller bones from a different dinosaur inside it, then we are probably looking at a meat eater, and one that shortly after eating the smaller dinosaur.