What Are Dinosaur Fossils And How Were They Created?

Even though dinosaurs lived several million years ago, society knows they exist because some of them turned into fossils.

In this post we take a look at what a fossil is and how dinosaur fossils were formed.

What is a Fossil ?

A fossil can be best described as being physical evidence of an ancient animal or plant.

A fossil can be anything from the skeletal structure of an animal, their remains or other traces they made such as marks on stones, which they made when they were still alive.

The most common type of fossils that people know of are called fossilized remains.

This entails the bones, teeth and shells of an animal.

The other type of fossils that we unearth are called trace fossils, this can be animal traces such as footprints, fossilized waste and imprints of their feathers and skin.

How Are Dinosaur Fossils Formed?

A fossil of a dinosaur is created, when said specimen gets buried in wet sand and dirt.

When animals and plants are buried under several layers of dirt and sand, it gets protected from the things that would naturally break it down such as bacteria and other animals.

This commonly happened during natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and mudslides.

It’s also worth noting that some animals and plants get trapped in substances such as ember which can also lead to the creation of fossils.