fossil

Also known as zoolite, fossils, fossil find

thumb|300px|Examples of animal fossils. Clockwise from top left: Onychocrinus, [[Palaeosinopa, Gryphaea, and Harpactocarcinus]]

AI overview

A fossil is the preserved remains or traces of an ancient organism, such as bones, shells, or imprints left in rock. Fossils matter because they provide evidence of past life on Earth and help scientists understand how organisms and environments have changed over time.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

44,736 papers

Fungal-induced fossil biomineralization.Current biology : CB · 2023Luo M, Li Z, Su M et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.067
Fossil Crustaceans as Parasites and Hosts.ReviewAdvances in parasitology · 2015Klompmaker AA, Boxshall GADOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2015.06.001
Ants and the fossil record.ReviewAnnual review of entomology · 2013LaPolla JS, Dlussky GM, Perrichot VDOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-120710-100600
The fossil record of fish ontogenies: insights into developmental patterns and processes.ReviewSeminars in cell & developmental biology · 2010Cloutier RDOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2009.11.004
Aestivation in the fossil record: evidence from ichnology.ReviewProgress in molecular and subcellular biology · 2010Hembree DIDOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-02421-4_12
Unlocking the early fossil record of the arthropod central nervous system.ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2015Edgecombe GD, Ma X, Strausfeld NJDOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0038
Combining fossil taxa with and without morphological data improves dated phylogenetic analyses.Biology letters · 2025Nikolic MC, Warnock RCM, Hopkins MJDOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0205
110-million-years-old fossil suggests early parasitism in shrimps.Scientific reports · 2023Lima D, Alencar DR, Santana W et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40554-2

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Perisphinctes wartae - Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin - DSC00011.JPG

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Fossils
Commons gallery: Fossil
P8168: Moulicent
exact match: purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002164

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~51 min read

Article

45 sections

Contents

History of study
Ancient civilizations
Early modern explanations
Linnaeus and Darwin
After Darwin
Modern era
Dating/Age
Stratigraphy and estimations
Limitations <span class="anchor" id="Fossil record limitations"></span>
Sites
Lagerstätten
Fossilization processes
Recrystallization
Replacement
Permineralization
Phosphatization
Pyritization
Silicification
Casts and molds
Authigenic mineralization
Adpression (compression-impression)
Carbonization and coalification
Soft tissue, cell and molecular preservation
Bioimmuration
Types
Index
Trace
Transitional
Microfossils
Resin
{{anchor|derived|reworked}}Derived or reworked
Wood
Subfossil
Chemical fossils
Stromatolites
Pseudofossils
Astrobiology
Art
Trading and collecting
As medicine
Gallery
See also
References
Further reading
External links

thumb|300px|Examples of animal fossils. Clockwise from top left: Onychocrinus, [[Palaeosinopa, Gryphaea, and Harpactocarcinus]]

A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth. In addition, the record can predict and fill gaps such as the discovery of Tiktaalik in the arctic of Canada.