Fossils: Fossils are the evidence of ancient life. The word fossil is derived from a Latin word fossus, which means ‘having been dug up’. Fossils are the remains or traces of remains of the actual bodies of the organisms, such as bones, shells, feathers and leaves, which have been preserved from decay, and which appear just as they were originally. Most fossils are in form of rock impressions or in form of traces. A very few are available as whole structure.
Formation of Fossils: Fossil formation starts after the death of an animal. About 100 million years ago, some invertebrates died and sank in the sea-bed. Some of the remains of these animals got deeply buried in mud or sand. Due to immense pressure, sandstone formation took place. These stones had traces of these animals. The same procedure took place with all the past animals. After hundreds of millions of years, when some of the rocks were cut away in small pieces by erosion or water flow, some of the fossils got exposed. Scientists say that we may get to explore more and more old fossils if we dig deeper.
