Photographies de fossiles de collection

A fossil is the trace or remains of a prehistoric animal or plant that has been preserved in rock or sediment. Fossils can be bones, teeth, shells, scales, spines, leaves, flowers, footprints or any other type of organic remains. They are usually formed when the organic parts of an animal or plant are buried in the sediment and replaced by minerals. Fossils can be dated to find out when they were formed and they can give us information about the species that lived at a particular time. Fossils are often used by palaeontologists to study the evolution of species and the changes that have occurred in the environment over time.