Learn How Dinosaur Fossils are Formed
by Bruno Torres, age 8
When visiting dinosaur museums, one typically encounters large reconstructions of dinosaurs with what appears to be their bones. In reality, these structures aren’t bones and are called fossils. Fossils are features or remnants left behind after animals and plants die, they typically date back at least 10,000 years.
Fossils can be bones, teeth, footprints, skin, and feces. There are two kinds of fossils, body fossils or trace fossils. Body fossils are made up of bones and teeth. Trace fossils are skin impressions and footprints.
Not all ancient animals will become fossils because other animals often eat them when they die. However, remains that are not eaten by other animals and are subject to the right conditions can be preserved for thousands of years. Most fossilization happens when animals are buried by sediments like sand, mud, or silt, therefore the bones are protected from rotting. As soft parts of the body decay, harder parts like bone and teeth are left behind. Through millions of years, the rocks surround these hard parts and minerals in water replace the parts. When water minerals completely replace the organic material in the bones, a solid “rock copy”, or fossil, is left behind. [Read More]