Read Fossils as Evidence of Past Life

Distinguish body fossils, traces, and the limits of preservation.

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Fossils include preserved remains and traces of past organisms. Ask what a feature directly records. Preservation is selective, so a missing fossil is not enough to prove that an organism never lived in a place.

Worked example

A trackway records movement across a surface. It may reveal direction and steps, but it does not automatically reveal the animal's exact color.

1. Which is an example of a trace fossil? A modern shoe A preserved footprint A living leaf

2. Which is an example of preserved body material or its fossilized form? A fossilized shell A burrow outline only A footprint trail only

3. What can a trackway directly help investigate? The exact skin color The animal's spoken language The sequence and direction of steps

4. Why does absence of a fossil not prove absence of the organism? Every organism always becomes a fossil Remains may not have been preserved or found All rocks preserve identical evidence

5. What strengthens an interpretation of a fossil? Comparing its features, rock context, and other evidence Ignoring the surrounding rock Treating every guess as certain

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