WEIT Chap2

What is a fossil?

A fossil looks like a stone, but it is not really a stone. It is a memory of an animal that lived a long time ago. The addition of a time factor and chemical reactions formed it. We will explain precisely how a fossil is formed later.
Hence in fossils, we can see the shape of the body of the organism. This allows us to see how the ancestor of such organism looked like. ==What information can we find in fossils ?== Fossils differ in age. It is even the main criterion to classify them.

What information can we find in fossils ?

The fossil record teaches us 3 things:

Gradual changes within lineages, splitting of lineages and the fact that transitional forms exist proves us that the theory of evolution is right.

Transitional forms appear exactly where we expect them to appear. This makes evolutionary sense.

Evolution means taking the old and remodeling it into the new, because natural selection can only change what already exists. It cannot produce anything new.

Between myths and truth

During the Greek period, people didn't know what these tracks were. This probably gave rise to mythology.

{{co|not essential information} }[[ Utilisateur:Pierre.brawand|Pierre.brawand]] 19 avril 2011 à 22:43 (CEST)
Much later, in the nineteenth century, people thought fossils were made by supernatural forces, results of religious cataclysm or unknown species of far living animals.

How are fossils formed?

The formation of a fossil is called fossilization. It begins as the rest of a dead organism (animal or plant) falls in water or in a wet environment. The organism's body's decompose. As this happens, the rest of the animal is covered by sediments during ages.
The sediments and the bones are transformed in a kind of stone which wears the track of the organism. Erosion and extreme climatic phenomena reveals the fossil. That is why we can discover animals that were born thousands or millions of years ago!

Are fossils easily found?

Fossils can be found everywher e

.

too short. Give examples...[ [U tilisateur:Pierre.brawand|Pierre.brawand]] 19 avril 2011 à 22:43 (CEST)

How can we determine the age of rocks ?

Once fossils are classified, we can see what appeared kind of organism appeared fir s

t.

you need to explain this[[U t

==Why are fossils important for Evolution study

?==

yes... that's why there is an entire chapter on them![[U t i l isateur:Pierre.brawand|Pierre.brawand]] 19 avril 2011 à 22:43 (CEST)

Fossils are the evidence of evolution. Without them, we would have only a "theoric" sketch of how species evolved throughout the centuries.

What is the "fossil record" ?

Fossils and birds...
Fossils in the sea...

From the earth to the air

The earlier species at the origin of birds were reptils.

From the earth to the water

We have anexcellent fossil record of whales, so it is one of our best examples of evolution.

Whales are mammals. They have vestigial traits that tell us that their ancestors lived on land. For instance, whales have hindlegs that are completely useless but show that their ancestors needed legs. In brief, the examination of fossils tells us that their ancestor was an animal which was terrestrial but probably went into the water in order to graze or flee its enemies. Little by little, the descendants spent more time into the water. There, mutations occurred: they acquired new features that allowed them to spend more time in the water and lost those which enable them to live on land (such as legs). Eventually, these animals became fully aquatic. There are several theories about why some animals went back into the water so many years after their ancestors moved from water to land. One of those theories is linked to the fact that since the dinosaurs that lived in the water, ate the aquatic mammals and competed with them for food disappeared, the water became less hostile (free from predators and full of food) and attracted terrestrial mammals.

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