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Fossils 8:1
Fossils Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
fossil | a trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock |
paleontologist | a scientist who studies fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago |
sedimentary rock | a type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together |
mold | a fossil formed when an organism buried in sediment dissolves, leaving a hollow area |
cast | a fossil that is a copy of an organisms shape, formed when minerals seep into a mold |
petrified fossil | a fossil in which minerals replace all or part of an organism |
carbon film | a type of fossil consisting of an extremely thin coating of carbon on rock |
trace fossil | a type of fossil that provides evidence of the activities of an ancient organism |
scientific theory | a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations |
evolution | the process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over time |
extinct | a volcano that is no longer active and is unlikely to errupt again; describes a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on Earth |