{"id":2592,"date":"2017-08-27T10:29:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T08:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinoshop.ro\/?page_id=2592"},"modified":"2026-10-07T12:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T09:38:19","slug":"what-are-fossils-and-how-are-they-formed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dinoshop.ro\/en\/ce-sunt-fosilele-si-cum-se-formeaza\/","title":{"rendered":"What are fossils and how are they formed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are fossils and how are they formed?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fossils (from the Latin word pit,<\/em> which means unearthed<\/em>) are the remains or traces of living things (plants, animals, etc.) from Earth's distant past. The oldest fossils date back 3.5 billion years, but fossils of complex multicellular organisms only began to appear 600 million years ago. Although there is no very clear rule, in general, for a fossil to be considered a fossil, it must be older than 10,000 years.<\/p>\n

There are 2 main types of fossils \u2013 fossils of traces left by an organism during its life<\/em> (footprints, coprolites, burrows, eggs, etc.) and fossils of the body of an organism<\/em> (shells, teeth, bones, etc.)<\/p>\n

Trace fossils left by an organism during its lifetime<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Traces left by organisms during their lifetime can undergo a process of fossilization and be preserved for millions or even billions of years. These traces reflect the biological activity of the organism and can include: movement traces imprinted in rock<\/em>, feeding traces<\/em> (bite marks, coprolites \u2013 petrified excrement), resting traces<\/em> (burrows), and reproductive traces<\/em> (mineralized eggshells).<\/p>\n

\"Chirotherium
Traces of Chirotherium<\/em> from the Triassic exhibited at the National Museum of Natural History Oxford, UK, Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Body fossils of an organism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The body of an organism requires special conditions to successfully undergo the fossilization process and be preserved for millions of years. These conditions include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A rapid and permanent burial in sediments;<\/li>\n
  2. An oxygen-free environment to prevent decomposition and protect against necrophagy attempts;<\/li>\n
  3. A constant accumulation of sediment to protect the specimen;<\/li>\n
  4. Lack of other factors that would damage the fossil over time (compression or excessive heat, etc.);<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Fossilization methods<\/strong><\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Mineralization <\/strong>\u2013 involves the penetration of various minerals brought by water and the replacement of organic matter with those minerals through various chemical processes. Through the mineralization process, bone tissue is replaced with minerals, shells with pyrite or opal, and wood with silica.\n

      \"Mineralized
      Mineralized fossils from the Permian period, Road Canyon, USA \u2013 in this case, the organic material has been replaced by silica \u2013 photo source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
    2. Carbonization<\/strong> \u2013 involves the disappearance of volatile substances from the organism (nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, etc.) and the leaving behind of carbon. A process found especially in plants, their remains appear as a thin, black and detailed print on the rock.\n

      \"Carbonized
      Leaf of Viburnum lesquereuxii<\/em> carbonized from the Cretaceous period, Kansas, USA \u2013 photo source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
    3. moldings<\/strong>\u00a0\u015fand impressions<\/strong> \u2013 external or internal, involve the imprinting of the exterior or interior of the organism in soft rock (usually sedimentary in nature) or other materials. The cast hardens and is thus preserved even after the total decomposition of the organism.\n

      \"Shell
      Shell cast from the Carboniferous period, Ohio, USA \u2013 photo source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
    4. curing<\/strong> \u2013 is rare and involves preserving intact organic material. It is achieved under very special conditions \u2013 insects in amber, mummification in peat and other environments where bacteria do not survive, permanent freezing (mammoths in Siberia), etc.\n

      \"A
      A mosquito in amber \u2013 author Didier Desouens, Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Living fossils<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Some organisms have remained almost unchanged for millions or even billions of years because they have not needed to evolve; these are known as living fossils<\/em>. Modern organisms considered living fossils include various species of bacteria, the plant Ginkgo biloba<\/em>, the Coelacanth<\/em> fish, the Echidna<\/em>, the Platypus<\/em>, the Nautilus<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\n

      \"Coelacanth
      The Coelacanth<\/em> fish \u2013 author BrokenSphere, Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      Sources: Australian Museum<\/a>, BBC<\/a>, Britannica<\/a><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u2190 Back to General Information About Fossils<\/em><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Ce sunt fosilele \u015fi cum se formeaz\u0103? Fosilele (din cuv\u00e2ntul latin fossus, care inseamana dezgropat) sunt r\u0103m\u0103\u015fi\u0163e sau urme ale viet\u0103\u0163ilor (plante, animale etc.) din trecutul \u00eendep\u0103rtat al P\u0103m\u00e2ntului. Cele mai vechi fosile dateaz\u0103 de acum 3,5 miliarde de ani, dar fosile ale organismelor multicelulare complexe au \u00eenceput s\u0103 apar\u0103 abia acum 600 de milioane […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2610,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2592","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCe sunt fosilele \u015fi cum se formeaz\u0103? - DinoShop.ro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dinoshop.ro\/en\/what-are-fossils-and-how-are-they-formed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ce sunt fosilele \u015fi cum se formeaz\u0103? - DinoShop.ro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ce sunt fosilele \u015fi cum se formeaz\u0103? Fosilele (din cuv\u00e2ntul latin fossus, care inseamana dezgropat) sunt r\u0103m\u0103\u015fi\u0163e sau urme ale viet\u0103\u0163ilor (plante, animale etc.) din trecutul \u00eendep\u0103rtat al P\u0103m\u00e2ntului. Cele mai vechi fosile dateaz\u0103 de acum 3,5 miliarde de ani, dar fosile ale organismelor multicelulare complexe au \u00eenceput s\u0103 apar\u0103 abia acum 600 de milioane […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dinoshop.ro\/en\/what-are-fossils-and-how-are-they-formed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DinoShop.ro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DinoShop.ro\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T09:38:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dinoshop.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/1024px-Permian_Silicified_Sclerobionts.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dinoshop.ro\\\/ce-sunt-fosilele-si-cum-se-formeaza\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dinoshop.ro\\\/ce-sunt-fosilele-si-cum-se-formeaza\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ce sunt fosilele \u015fi cum se formeaz\u0103? 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Fosilele (din cuv\u00e2ntul latin fossus, care inseamana dezgropat) sunt r\u0103m\u0103\u015fi\u0163e sau urme ale viet\u0103\u0163ilor (plante, animale etc.) din trecutul \u00eendep\u0103rtat al P\u0103m\u00e2ntului. 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