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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| extinct | a volcano that is no longer active and is unlikely to errupt again; describes a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on Earth |