How+a+Fossil+is+Formed+by+Holly+and+Charlotte

= = =**A fossil is formed by a dead animal's bones. Once the animal has died it's bones shrink and are eventually covered with dirt or snow. When fossil explorers find the fossil it is taken and put in their museum and are looked at by people like us. **= =**So how are fossils formed anyway? There are several processes that plants and animals or their parts can be preserved. No matter which way preservation occurs it takes a lot of luck, pure happenstance. Most living things are quickly recycled upon death. Scavengers and bacteria usually consume all but bones and shells. **= =**Still millions of fossils have been found. If you think about all of the museums, university paleontology labs, fossil dealers, and private collectors, there really are a lot of fossils that have been discovered! However when you think of the billions and billions of living things that have inhabited the earth over the last 550 million years only a very small percentage are immortalized in stone!** =

=**Here is a YouTube clip:** = **[|How a Fossil is Formed by Holly and Charlotte]**

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= **Here are some Fast Facts: ** = =*The largest fossils are often 2 feet (53 centimeters) in diameter. They are found in southern England= =*The evidence of microscopic life forms has been detected as old as 3,700 to 3,800 million years ago. This evidence was found in Isua greenstone in Greenland. There have been claims of evidence dating back as far as 3,850 million years ago but these are not universally accepted. Scientists continue to refine dating methods to get reliable data on the earliest life on earth= =*There are 2 (two) types of fossils: vertebrate and invertebrate. Vertebrate fossils come from animals that had bones. Invertebrate fossils come from plats or animals that don't have bones= =*Sometimes fossils are parts of bodies like bones and teeth. Sometimes they are parts of leaves. Other times they might be animal tracks.= = = = = = = = = = =