Name______________________
Know Your Fossils Lab
Background: Throughout our history, humans have been fascinated with the past and the search for the unknown.
Much of what we know about our past comes from our study of fossilized specimens. The word fossil is derived from
the Latin word fossilis, meaning “dug up”. Within the past century fossils have generally been accepted as being the
remains of ancient life. More specifically, fossils may be defined as the remains or evidence of ancient plants or
animals that have been preserved in the rocks of the earth’s crust. The study of fossils is called paleontology. Most
specific types of paleontology include Invertebrate paleontology, Vertebrate paleontology, Paleobotany, and
Micropaleontology.
Purpose: Based on a given description, you will be able to classify each fossil by phyla.
Materials: Each set includes
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24 unnumbered fossils in five different labeled packages
Collection box with compartmented tray
Magnifying lens
A numbering set (set that aside you will NOT need it for this activity)
Special Instructions: DO NOT mix the specimens from your set with the specimens from other
sets. Only work with ONE set at a time!!!!
Getting Started:
1. Copy the data table (type of fossil column, and sketch column ONLY)
2. Work with only ONE SET at a time, and work in order, from set 1 through set 5.
3. Refer to the description given to identify each fossil. As a team, identify, and place it in the corresponding
numbered slot of the collection box as you go. Sketch the fossil in your journal’s data table.
Set #1: Invertebrates
Tray
Type of
Origin of
#
Fossil
Fossil
1
Foraminifera Coleman Co
Texas
Characterization for Identification
Long furrows or lines which run the length of the outer
shell. Belong to a group of protists, single celled animals
called foraminifera.
2
Sponge
Wise Co
Texas
Globular or ball-shaped with no symmetry. Surface
displays small pits or pores. This is an early fossilized
sponge.
3
Horn Coral
Crawford Co Cone-shaped, with the large end displaying a radial
Indiana
honeycombed pattern.
4
Colonial
Coral
Leroy,
New York
Honeycombed in appearance, large and cubic. This is a
colonial form of coral.
5
Bryozoan
Carroll Co
Kentucky
Branching or twig like covered in minute bumps, pores,
or openings. Bryozoans are sea-mats, related to
mosses of today.
Sketch
Set #2
Begin by separating the two Brachiopods based on their symmetry of mirror image of fossil that runs perpendicular to
the hinge.
Tray
#
6
Type of
Fossil
Brachiopod
Origin of
Fossil
Denton Co
Texas
Characterization for Identification
7
Brachiopod
Morocco
Prominent folds and sulcus, narrow hinge line and
strong ribbing. Symmetrical on face surface, but not
side
8
Pelecyopod
(clam)
Yorkshire
England
Asymmetrical shell on face, but symmetrical on side.
Typical bivalve (two shells) with concentric growth
lines visible.
9
Pelecypod
(Scallop)
Tarrant Co
Texas
10
Pelecypod
(oyster)
Glades Co
Florida
Single valve (shell) displaying strong ribbing and
broad fan-like shape. Fine teeth and sockets below
the beak on the hinge line
Spirally twisted shell similar to a ram’s horn
Sketch
These are bi-valves (possess two shells). Abundant
in Paleozoic, but sparse in Mesozoic and Cenozoic.
Smooth shell with somewhat rounded outline and
fine concentric growth lines. Symmetrical on face
surface, but not side.
Note: Sulcus: a central raised area on the pedicle valve called a fold with a corresponding depression on the brachial
valve
Set # 3
Tray
Type of
#
Fossil
11
Scaphopod
Origin of
Fossil
Italy
Characterization for Identification
Long, white, tusk shaped with ridges running the
length of the shell. Single valve, open at both ends.
12
Gastropod
St. Mary Highly spiraled white shell that appears unaltered.
Co
Maryland
13
Gastropod
Jefferson Disk shaped highly coiled and maybe preserved
Co
internal cast of original shell
Kentucky
14
Cephalopod
Morocco
15
Cephalopod
C&D
Tube, or cigar-shaped with horizontal straight lines
Canal
This is a belemnite
Delaware
16
Cephalopod
Morocco
Cone-shaped fossil, with simple, straight-line sutures.
This is a nautiloid.
Small coiled with complex structure pattern where
the outer layer of shell has been removed
Sketch
Set # 4
Tray
#
17
Type of
Fossil
Trilobite
Origin of
Fossil
Ordovician
Ohio
18
Crinoid
Stem
Morocco
19
Blastoid
Hart Co
Kentucky
20
Echinoid
Florida
Characterization for Identification
Sketch
Small fossil which may be flat, or curved. Three
distinct body sections (or lobes) series of fine ribs
running across the body surface. May display either
head or tail section. Can you tell which section you
have?
Short column of plates cemented together. With lens
you should be able to see where the plates join
together as well as the center hole which runs through
each disc
Small globular with small plates along the base and
sides with five grooves radiating from center
Flat disc shaped with five starred symmetry.
Interlocking plated covering the surface of the animal.
Appears to be unaltered.
Set #5 Vertebrates and Plants
Tray
#
21
Type of
Fossil
Graptolite
Origin of
Fossil
Rochester
New York
Characterization for Identification
22
Fern Leaf
Impression
Morocco
Thin piece of black shale with white to silvery outline
of fossil fern. Note the detail of leaf structure with
hand lens
23
Shark Tooth
Wyoming
20 million year old shark tooth (if you don’t know
which one this is there is no hope for you  )
24
Dinosaur
bone
Pennsylvania Interlocking pores giving the rock a spongy texture.
This bone is from the Jurassic period
Sketch
Dark scissor like stalks across the surface of shale.
These are fossilized remains of graptolite colony
After all fossils have been placed in the correct tray, have your teacher check your work. Then proceed to
the following website to check the accuracy of your identification. Have your teacher verify your results.
http://www.geoclassroom.com/historical/lab3.shtml. Please note, some of the pictures are NOT correct. 
Once you have identified and classified all fossils, it is VERY IMPORTANT to put each fossil back in its
appropriate group bag.
Analysis Questions:
1) Which fossil(s) were the hardest to identity and why?
2) Groups 1-4 included fossils of invertebrates and group 5 was vertebrates and plants. Describe other
characteristics that allowed each sample to be grouped together.
3) Identify the three samples collected from the surrounding area. Based on these fossils, what can you
conclude about the landscape of this area in pervious eras?