Fossils
Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally "having been dug up") are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past.
Such a preserved specimen is called a "fossil" if it is older than some minimum age, most often the arbitrary date of 10,000 years ago. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Learning About Prehistoric Animals Through Fossil Eggs
Welcome to the enchanting world of fossils. Fossils help you to discover and know more about the species of creatures existed much before the existence of humans. Generally, these are the remains of creatures that existed thousands or even millions of years ago. Many of them are found in different parts of the world range from thousands of years to millions of years in age.
On the records, the first ones date from around 600 million years ago. Moreover, there are also reports suggesting that the bacteria may have existed up to 3 billion years earlier. The most talked about are of dinosaurs that have become extinct over 65 million years ago. But all this doesn't mean that all former life was preserved as fossils.
In fact there are a large number of species that simply vanished without trace. The most likely materials to survive the hard times of fossilisation are the hard parts such as shells or bones and objects that were constructed from resistant materials, such as Coral. In most of the cases where the softer materials have survived, it is considered that the conditions must be extremely favourable.
Fossils have been discovered in a variety of sizes, for instance, from very small traces to large skeletons. These can be considered as clues to former life; they result from the activities or presence of creatures and plants. The topics of interest for many excavators or researchers are the fossilized eggs.
The fossilized eggs have come as answers to the many questions that were unanswered and were hunting the scientists. Forinstance, until very recently, scientists wondered if the reptiles that roamed freely in most of the terrains of the world,in the age of the dinosaurs laid eggs or gave birth to live young like mammals do.
With these evidences found of dinosaur eggs, this question has found an answer and has let us have a new insight in the lives of such pre-historic creatures. Presently, the dinosaur eggs are not particularly rare have been known to be found from over220 sites world-wide. Dinosaur eggs have been found in North America, France, Mongolia and China.
It is thought that some of the species of dinosaur, like some living reptiles, buried their eggs in the ground. This has been seen as a possibility for the eggs to become fossilized.
Many research projects have been going on aiming to unearth the remains or egg fossils. For sure, the egg fossils give us a chance to learn more about the lost species. For some, finding the fossil eggs has been a
passion and they have dedicated their lives for the task.
Researchers have been successful in understanding closely the life of the prehistoric species from the remains of their eggs.
About the Author: Learn about all about geology including info on different rocks, fossils and minerals!
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A Fossils Formidable Years
Ever wonder exactly what a fossil is or where they came from? Fossils are actually the remains of plants or animals that lived millions of years ago. While that is what they are, fossils still to this day serve a very important purpose. They are able to provide some very important information about what life was like millions of years ago. A YouTube video blog from the past, you might say. Only not so annoying.
A fossil is a long time in the making. Millions of years actually. A very gradual process. It all begins when a creature dies, or a plant drops into some sediment. Usually, this sediment is at the bottom of a lake, river or stream. Sediment is made of mud and sand. Over time, with the pressure of the water, the sediment eventually turns into rock. The water provides not only pressure, but minerals also. Those minerals seep their way into the remains of the creature or plant and begin to dissolve. As they dissolve, the crystallize, and begin the transformation from skeleton to fossil. Depending on the types of minerals in the water, the fossil can form in two separate ways. Some minerals completely dissolve, and leave an empty space as a fossil. Kind of like carving a shape into a rock by removing portions of the rock. Some minerals actually harden though, and take over the space left by the dissolved remains of the creature. Other items to turn up in fossils, include eggs, dinosaur droppings, and footprints left in the some mud by many forms of creatures. Even trails formed by worms and other burrowing insects through soft mud has survived through the centuries to become fossils. Just imagine the kinds of things everyone of us can do to the planet that may one day turn up as fossils for future archaeologists.
You may wonder how it is that you find so many fossils on land when the majority of them were formed under the water. Well, as the earth continues to reshape itself, lots of things get pushed around. Plates withing the earth shift, volcanoes explode, and typhoons and tsunamis move massive amounts of water and land. Over time many things that were buried under water, are move by the natural forces of the planet to somewhere else. Like your own backyard for example. So, keep your eyes open, you never know what you may find.
About the Author: To learn more about fossils, be sure to visit fossil facts or read more articles by Chris at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Chris_Campbell
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Archeological site of Vučedol is situated 5 km downstream from Croatian town Vukovar, on the right bank of Danube River. It is one of the most important sites of Eneolithic. Because of the importance of findings in Vucedol, the whole phase of Eneolithic period was named after it - the Vucedol Culture. It was the center of the great and widespread Vučedol culture. (From Wikipedia)
