Paleontology

 The sciences-which deals with the study of the fossilized

remains of plants and animals found in earth's crust OR the
study of fossils is called Paleontology (from Greek words
palios = ancient + onta = existing + logos = knowledge).
Paleontology may again be divided into following subdivisions:
 Palaeobotany is the study of fossil plants.
 Palynology is the study of fossil spores and pollens.
 Palaeozoology is the study of fossil animals.
◦ Invertebrate Paleontology is the study of fossil animals without
backbone.
◦ Vertebrate Paleontology is the study of fossil animals with backbone or
vertebral Column.
 Micropalaeontology is the study of fossil that are so small that
they can be studied under microscope only.
 Fossils
 The word fossil is derived from the Latin word 'fossils',
meaning 'dug-up’. Today, we define fossil as 'the remains or
relics of any organism that lived prior to recent time.
 The emphasis in definition is on words 'prior to Recent times'.

 In Geological time scale 'the recent period began about 10

to15 thousand years ago.
 In other words, if one finds a Skelton or the remains of an
organism that died out with in last 10 - 15 Thousand years, it
will not be considered as fossil.
 Thus, this term has been reserved for objects indicating the
presence of prehistoric organisms and giving some evidence
of their size, structure, shape and habits.
A fossilis defined as any remains, trace
or imprint of a plant or animal that has
been preserved by natural processes in
the Earth’s crust from some distant
geologic time and provides a record of
Earth’s history from that time
Factors that come into play that determine the
preservability or fossilization potential of a
creature include:
◦ composition of the creature
◦ the environment where the organism lived and died
◦ processes affecting the dead organism
The environment in which the creature inhabited
(the paleoenvironment) will have a large bearing
on fossilization potential.
In general creatures that live in water have a much
better chance of being preserved as fossils
compared to land creatures because of being
covered by sediment and/or transported to low
oxygen environments, which increase the chances
of it becoming fossilized.
 Fossil Identification
Fossils are identified according to the
process by which it was formed.
Petrification
Molds and Casts
Imprints
Preservation of Entire Organism
Trace Fossils
 CONDITIONS FAVORING FOSSILIZATION
 Only a tiny fraction of the organisms that lived during the
geological past have been preserved as fossils.
 According to an estimate, one only out of each thousand
species of prehistoric organisms has been fossilized.
 It is because of the fact that normally the remains of an
animal or plant are totally destroyed.
 Three special conditions appears to be necessary for
fossilization.
1) Possession of hard parts
 Animals and plants have a much better chance of being preserved
as part of the fossils record if they have hard parts. These hard parts
typically consist of bones, tooth, shell, chitin or the woody tissues
of plants. Under exceptionally favorable conditions, however, even
the soft and delicate organisms such as, jelly fish, worms, and
insects may be preserved as impressions or carbon residues.
 2) Escape from immediate destruction
 Usually when an organism dies its soft parts are quickly eaten
by scavengers or decomposed by bacteria. Again the remains
of these organisms are destroyed by the work of atmosphere
and other mechanical forces (such as rain, heat, pressure,
wave action, strong winds, and crushing). Rapid burial,
therefore, is an important condition favoring preservation.
 3) Rapid burial in a suitable medium
 Type of protective material in which the organism is buried,
usually depends upon the environment inhabited by the
organism. 
 Marine animals are more likely to be preserved. Decay is
checked by salt water. In the oceans live many animals
which secrete shells, and there are fishes with bony Skelton.
When these animals die their hard parts settle to the bottom
and are covered by soft sediment and thus prevented from
oxidation and scavengers. Later they remain buried in the
rock that forms from the sediment and are thus preserved as
fossils.
 Natural Mummies
Animals living in desert are preserved by
desiccation i.e. rapid drying up of body as a
result of evaporation.
 Amber
Many extinct insects and spiders have
been found encased in Amber, the
yellowish hardened resin of ancient tree
 Tarpits
Larger animals have been trapped in
tarpits and oil seeps
One of the most famous localities of this
type is at Rancho la brea in Los Angeles,
USA
Volcanicash- also serve as protective
medium for fossilization
 Ice
The protective material producing the
most remarkable preservation is ice.
 KINDS OF FOSSILS

Fossils may be arranged in 4 groups

according to their method of preservation.
Original soft parts of organisms
Original hard parts of organisms
Altered hard parts of organisms
Traces of organisms
Original soft parts of organisms
Usually only the hard parts of organisms
are fossilized but under exceptionally
favorable conditions even the soft parts
are also preserved.
Examples of such special media are
Ice
Oil, saturated soil
Amber
The best known example of fossils preserved in
ice or frozen soil are Wooly Mammoths of
Siberia and Alaska. (preserve skin, flesh,
hairs and blood)
The remains of an extinct Rhinoceros has been
obtained from oil saturated soil in Eastern
Poland. (preserved skin)
Prehistoricinsects became entrapped in a
sticky gum called “AMBER”
 Carbonization or Distillation
Soft organic material is preserved by
carbonization, a process in which as time passes,
Nitrogen, Oxygen and Hydrogen are lost and
only a thin film of carbonaceous material
remains.
Original hard parts of organisms

Most animals and plants have some hard parts in

their bodies which are capable of fossilization.
These may be in the following forms
Calcite remains e.g shells of foraminifera,
corals, test of echinoderms and brachiopods.
Aragonitic remains: Shells of gastropods, pelycepods
and cephalopods (unstable form of calcite).
Phosphatic remains: Bones of vertebrates.
Siliceous remains: Radiolarian shells and skeleton of
some sponges.
Chitinous remains: Exoskeleton of arthropods.
 Altered hard parts of organisms
The original hard structure of many organisms
may undergo considerable variation with the
passage of time
 These changes may come out in many different
ways depending on
1) the body material of the organisms
2) Environmental conditions in which organism
lived
3) Conditions under which the remains of
organisms deposited
 PETRIFICATION
Often fossils become petrified (turned into
stone) meaning that the small internal cavities
or pores filled with precipitated mineral matter.
Petrified wood is a most common example of
this type of preservation.
 MINERALIZATION
This type of preservation occurs when circulating
water dissolves chemicals from bones or shells
and leaves them light and spongy. There are so
many replacing minerals
Most common examples are silica, lime, quartz
and pyrites.
 TRACES OF ORGANISMAS
Tracesare indirect evidences
Examples are
Mold
Cast
Traces and Trails
Gastroliths
Coprolites
 Mold
 Mold is the impression of an organisms in the surrounding
material.
 For example when a shell or bone or other structure is buried in
sediments and then dissolves by ground water, leaving a cavity,
a mold is created. It only reflects the shape and surface
marking of the organism but no internal details.
 CAST
If the hollow cavity or mold is
subsequently filled with some mineral
matter, a “natural cast” is formed.
 TRACES AND TRAILS
 Tracks or traces are foot prints made by animals as
they walk over the ground.
 Foot prints of Dinosaurs have been found in excellent
shape in the red stone of the Connecticut valley, U.S.A.
 Trails are impressions made by the bodies of organisms
as they crawl over the ground
 Gastroliths
 These are smooth rounded stones found in the rib cages
of dinosaurs.
 These stones probably helped in digestion.
 Coprolites
Fossilfaecal pellets or casting of animals
droppings are called “coprolites”
 Uses of Fossils

Fossils are useful in a number of ways.

The scientists use fossils to recreate the
geological history of earth.
Fossils help in tracing of development of
plants and animals.(Horse evolution)
 As Stratigraphic Indicator

Fossils can provide important clues to the

age of rocks containing them because it has
long been known that there is definite
relationship between fossil contents of
rocks and position of these rocks in
geological column.
Fossils near the surface
are relatively recent,
while those that are
deeper are relatively
older.

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 As Climatic Indicator
Fossils are used to demonstrate the
existence of different climatic conditions
in the geological past.
For example
Fossil ferns from Green land indicate, a
much warmer climate for these areas in
other times.
Remains of the reef buildings Corals have been
found in Siberia. Since these animals have
always lived in warmer seas.
Their fossils indicate that the climate was
tropical at least during Silurian period.
Fossils of Reindeer from FRANCE, indicate
once its climate was extremely cold.
 As evidence of changing geographic
patterns
Fossils have provided us much information
about the distribution of the seas and land
masses of the past.
Certain animals such as corals, echinoderms and
brachiopods have always lived in sea.
The presence of these animals indicate marine
deposition for the rocks containing them.
 As record of prehistoric life
By studying the record of the changes that
organisms have undergone, the paleontologist is
able to work out the family tree or evolutionary
pattern of for most of present day life.
It is possible to determine the relationship
between different groups of plants and animals
and to see how slowly and progressively life
become more complex.
As evidence of organic evolution

Fossils provide one of the strongest

evidence to support the Theory of
ORGANIC EVOLUTION.
This theory states that the more advanced
forms of today have evolved from simpler
and more primitive forms of the past.
The transformations have been gradual
and at a very slow rate, and has been
brought about by such factors as
Heredity
Changes in environment
Natural selection
Adaptability of species
 As Economic Tools

Since many of our more important

resources are associated with sedimentary
rocks, fossils may be of help in locating
minerals ores, coal, oil, and gas deposits.
Foraminifera are important in locating oil
fields.
 Index Fossils
Index fossils are fossils of organisms that
lived during only one short period of time.
Scientists assume that index fossils of the
same type of organism are all nearly the same
age.
So a layer of rock with one type of index fossil
in it is close in age to another layer of rock
with the same type of index fossil in it.