[...]... road to Fossilhood This diagram illustrates mold and cast formation, two ways that fossils develop potential of leaving multiple fossils if conditions encourage fossilization Fossils of shed skins are an example of a special kind of fossil called a trace fossil—a remnant left behind by a living thing 33 34 Fossils trace Fossils: tracKs, dung, and More Tourists at a beach leave thousands of tracks... Mayor contends, represent the first attempt to understand and reconstruct dinosaur fossils Griffins (left) are considered to be one of the first attempts by humans to understand dinosaur fossils such as those of the Protoceratops (opposite page), the fossils of which were mistaken to be that of the mythological griffin Fossils The American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews (1884–1960) visited Mongolia... fossil 16 Fossils The Ichthyosaurus lived through two great extinctions but disappeared before the dinosaurs 66 million years ago These shale fossils show an Ichthyosaurus mother with an infant and five unborn babies enthusiasts, more widely known The man to impress in those days—Georges Cuvier (1769–1832)—was an ambitious French anatomist who lived in Paris and had a rich collection of fossils at... fish lizard Cuvier and other fossil hunters of the time were aware of something else: Fossils did not appear randomly among the rocks Older rocks contained a different collection of fossils than younger rocks and fossil creatures became progressively different in deeper (and thus older) layers of rock Many of the fossils Cuvier found in what were called Tertiary rocks near Paris, for example, consisted... Mantell (1790–1859) and his wife Mary loved to hunt fossils One summer day in 1822, Mary found a fossil resembling a mammal tooth in very ancient rocks that should not contain such fossils Later, Mantell found teeth in a nearby quarry that looked most similar to the teeth of iguanas— tropical reptiles—except they were much bigger Eventually, more 17 1 Fossils Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826): American President... million years, several human species Fossils 21 may have coexisted, although only Homo sapiens remains today All the fossil evidence to date indicates that human beings have developed from preexisting species and depend on interactions with countless other living things in order to survive Because fossils are rare and because only some organisms are likely to become fossils, scientists must always use... everything quickly in a straightforward way Sometimes her restless forces make fossils e(rosion)-Worlds and d(eposition)-Worlds Kirk Johnson, a paleobotanist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, likes to talk about D-Worlds and E-Worlds In 22 The Tortuous Road to Fossilhood  23 E-Worlds like Colorado, where Johnson lives, wind and water expose fossils through erosion Rivers rush down mountains, carving... transformed from a static stage for human activities into a restless, dynamic planet that not only changed the kinds of life it supported, but was changed by that life in turn Fossils, the relics of ancient life, became the key to understanding Earth’s long and exciting story, although it took time before everyone recognized their importance Fossils 15 Sea Monsters, Fossil Hunters, and the Mystery... 10-to-15-million-year-old amber The bee carried the pollinaria (pollen sacs) of the earliest known orchid species In 2004, fossils discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores indicate that at least two species of humans may have coexisted just 18,000 years ago or less 20   Fossils What kinds of questions can these and other fossil discoveries help scientists answer? F  ossils help us know when things... or non-bird dinosaurs.”) F  ossils provide clues to the reasons for extinctions—both normal F  and catastrophic kinds The kind and abundance of various fossils change dramatically at extinction boundaries In fact, these changes define such boundaries Fossils provide scientists with clues to understanding the mechanisms that cause major extinction events, which will provide guidelines to prevent human . Minerals Fossils T h e R e s T l e s s e a R T h RE _Fossils2 print.indd 2 3/17/09 8:58:17 AM Fossils T h e R e s T l e s s e a R T h Gary Raham RE _Fossils2 print.indd 3 3/17/09 8:58:18 AM FOSSILS Copyright. class="bi x0 y0 w1 h0" alt="" Fossils T h e R e s T l e s s e a R T h RE _Fossils2 print.indd 1 3/17/09 8:58:14 AM THE REsTlEss EARTH Earthquakes and Volcanoes Fossils Layers of the Earth Mountains. Cataloging-in-Publication Data Raham, Gary. Fossils / by Gary Raham. p. cm. — (Restless earth) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7910-9703-8 (hardcover) 1. Fossils Juvenile literature.