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How long life has existed on Earth
- By studying the fossil record we can tell how long life has existed on Earth, and how different plants and animals are related to each other. Often we can work out how and where they lived, and use this information to find out about ancient environments.
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What do fossils tell us about the past?
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Why are fossils important?
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of dead organisms. They show us how living things and the environment have changed since the time they were alive.
- What can we learn from fossils?
Fossils can tell us all about living things in the past and...
- What can we learn from fossils?
Fossils can give us clues about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago. By studying the fossil record, we can tell how long life has existed on Earth. Palaeontologists use the fossils they find to propose theories about living things from the past.
Fossils can tell us all about living things in the past and how they have changed over time. Find out more in this Bitesize Primary KS2 Science guide.
Fossils give us information about how animals and plants lived in the past. Once people began to recognise that some fossils looked like living animals and plants, they gradually began to understand what they were. They realised they were actually the ancestors of today's plants and animals.
Scientists can use the fossil record to tell them how long life has existed on earth and palaeontologists use evidence from the fossils that they find to propose theories about living things from the past.
What can fossils tell us? People have been finding fossils for a very long time. These objects were often misidentified in the past. For example, ammonite shells were once thought to be coiled snakes turned to stone, and some trilobites were mistaken for butterflies.
But fossils can illustrate the stark difference between pure ecological processes and human-influenced ones. “Fossils don’t just tell us about extinct life,” Pyenson said. “In some cases, they faithfully record what life was like in the deep past. Fossils underpin everything.
