Chapter 6 – The Rock and Fossil Record
PALEONTOLOGY
the study of fossils or past life
“paleo” means old or ancient
http://youtu.be/ClJ5lwl_wM0
3 ½ min Fossil Rock Anthem
EXTINCT
•Extinction is the death of every member of a species.
•To be extinct means to be no longer on this Earth.
Woolly Mammoth
Dodo bird
Saber Tooth Tiger
Quagga
FOSSIL
the preserved remains,
traces, or imprint of
an organism
http://youtu.be/Zo49Pyhii-k
3 min BBC – Earth’s rarest and ancient fossils
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rkGu0BItKM&feature=s
hare&list=PLOxx_Ap1N_kcgyHcmqdi5cnYRNuihA8Mw
2 ½ min What are fossils
BODY FOSSIL
The actual remains of an
organism, including bones,
shells, teeth, and seeds.
http://youtu.be/068GcVD3VaE
5 min Petrified Forest National Park
PETRIFACTION
The process by which
the organic material of
an organism is replaced
with hard minerals.
petrified dinosaur bone agate (rock)
Petoskey rock – fossilized coral
from Michigan
MOLD
The imprint or shape
(empty space) left by an
organism’s body or
movements.
CAST
A mold left by an
organism’s body or
movements that has been
filled with minerals or
sediment. The cast forms
inside the mold.
AMBER
Insects, frogs, lizards and plants have been preserved
in soft, sticky tree sap. Overtime, the sap hardens
into amber, which can be used in jewelry.
TRACE FOSSILS
Details preserved in rock provide info
about the activities of prehistoric
animals, including animal tracks, trails,
burrows, and nest.
Amphibian tracks
Animals burrowed through the soft
sediment at the bottom of the
ancient seas.
http://youtu.be/nBfMa62fkHA
3 ½ min La Brea Tar Pits
La Brea Tar Pits
The extinct animals discovered at Rancho La Brea were trapped in the asphalt (tar) between
11,000 to 50,000 years ago. They may have lived in the Los Angeles region for much of the last
100,000 years. Before that time the Los Angeles Basin was covered by the Pacific Ocean.
Asphalt is very sticky, particularly when it is warm. Small mammals, birds, and insects that would
come into contact with it would be immobilized as if trapped like flies on flypaper.
Woolly Mammoth
Yuka – 3-4 yr. old female
recently found in Siberia
HAIR
FEET
http://youtu.be/ZOFf1wyx91M
1 ½ min Yuka Mammoth Mummy
A Time Line of Earth’s Past
http://youtu.be/zklzOjmz7Wk
5 min The Ages of Rock/Fossils
RELATIVE AGE
The age of a fossil or layer of rocks as compared to
other fossils and rock layers found above and below it.
Scientists can use the order of layers to find relative age of a fossil. The lower layers
in the rock are older because they settled first. Newer layers formed on top of the
older layers.
ABSOLUTE AGE
The exact numerical age of a fossil.
Dating fossils have helped scientists explain the theory of continental drift.
Using Fossils to Date Rock
INDEX FOSSILS
Are well-known organisms that lived a short time
and then became extinct.
Ammonite
marine mollusk
Trilobite
related to horseshoe crab
By dating the rock layers above and below these fossils, scientists can determine
the time span in which the organisms that formed the fossils lived.
Georgia State Fossil
Petrified shark tooth
Georgia designated the shark tooth as the
official state fossil in 1976. A fairly common
fossil on the Georgia coastal plain, the
fossilized shark tooth is prized by collectors.
These prehistoric shark teeth are found in a
range of colors - most common are black
or gray, less common are the white, brown,
blue, and reddish-brown teeth.
Many types of sharks lived in prehistoric
Georgia - the oldest teeth date back about
375 million years. One of the largest extinct
species of shark was Otodontidae Carcharocles
megalodon.
Era - A unit of geologic time
Paleozoic Era
Time Marches On…
•“Paleo” means ancient, old or in the past
•“Zoic” means life or animal
•Marine life was abundant.
•Ended with the largest mass extinction
http://youtu.be/XdeYhMd5RDM
4 min Paleozoic Era
http://youtu.be/FlUes_NPa6M
10 ½ min Mass Extinctions
Mesozoic Era
•“Meso” means middle
•Age of Reptiles
•Small mammals appeared
•Another mass extinction occurred at end of the era.
Cenozoic Era
•“Ceno” means recent
•Began 65 million years ago
•Continues to present time
•Age of Mammals
Mammals
•Mammals had unique adaptations
that may have helped them to
survive climate change:
•Regulating body temperature
(warm-blooded)
•Bearing young that developed
inside the mother
•Dinosaurs were unable to adapt
which caused their disappearance
from Earth (cold-blooded and
egg-laying).
http://youtu.be/Z8hP8Frzhnw
4 min I am a Dinosaur song
http://youtu.be/TcZtMFnyj1M
4 ½ min Fossils and Plate Tectonics
http://youtu.be/LssXGFdueFM
3 ½ min Building a Dinosaur 101
http://youtu.be/RNSrNT-nIDE
3 ½ min Mr. Parr Fossil Song
http://youtu.be/rzcMnb0yhxA
3min NG Digging up a Dinosaur Graveyard
http://youtu.be/FXpeovWDi9k
4 min Mr. Parr All Earth Time song
http://youtu.be/SiN0jxZ6I2w
4 min Fossil Record Mystery
http://youtu.be/a_hgCM8XZkk
2 min NG Should We Bring Extinct Species Back to Life?
http://youtu.be/O8qmaAMK4cM
1 ½ min 6 degrees Warmer: Mass Extinction?
http://youtu.be/6v9bx_aOu7I
3 ½ min Weird Fossils BBC
PowerPoint Presentation – 2013
M. Brumbaugh
TCMS