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Fossil identification and geology

Any preserved remains, trace, or impression of an organism that lived in the past, typically older than approximately 10,000 years. Fossils include body fossils shells, bones, teeth, wood , trace fossils burrows, trackways, coprolites , and chemical fossils biomarkers, isotopic signatures . Fossilization requires rapid burial and specific geochemical conditions to prevent decomposition. Field: paleontology. Example: The Burgess Shale in British Columbia preserves extraordinary soft-bodied Cambrian fossils including Anomalocaris and Hallucigenia, providing a rare window into early animal evolution approximately 508 million years ago.. Related terms: Trace fossil, Permineralization, Index fossil, Taphonomy.

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Sources, scope & corrections

These authoritative resources support category-level nomenclature, terminology, identification methods, and safety. When a specimen-specific safety warning appears, the public-health source listed here directly supports that precaution. They are not line-by-line citations for every other property on this entry, and natural specimens vary.

Editorial owner
GeoMiner
Last updated
2026-03-30T15:19:41.999576+00:00
Review status
Published; not independently peer-reviewed
  • USGS Thesaurus — U.S. Geological Survey. Controlled earth-science terminology used to describe USGS information resources.
  • Glossary of Geologic Terms — U.S. National Park Service. Geologic definitions prepared by the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory.

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Common questions

What does Fossil mean in geology?
Any preserved remains, trace, or impression of an organism that lived in the past, typically older than approximately 10,000 years. Fossils include body fossils shells, bones, teeth, wood , trace fossils burrows, trackways, coprolites , and chemical fossils biomarkers, isotopic signatures . Fossilization requires rapid burial and specific geochemical conditions to prevent decomposition.
What is an example of Fossil?
The Burgess Shale in British Columbia preserves extraordinary soft-bodied Cambrian fossils including Anomalocaris and Hallucigenia, providing a rare window into early animal evolution approximately 508 million years ago.
Which earth-science field uses the term Fossil?
Fossil is used in paleontology.
Which terms are related to Fossil?
Related terms in this reference are Trace fossil, Permineralization, Index fossil, Taphonomy.

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