Common Errors About Fossils.
One of the mistakes people make about fossils, is how we have fossils and what they really are. They can vary, and understanding them is key to understanding history, and why it can be so hard to time date them, while not at all impossible. When you think of fossil, many people think it is still the actual animals body that has somehow survived the ages, as many as millions to billions of years. If this were true, that would be wondrous. The reality is, though, those bones are mostly long gone. Fossilizing happens under certain conditions. It doesn't happen under all conditions. If the bones are eaten by predators, smashed up, or just not buried, we will never find them, and those will never be species we have in the records of history. Simply, somethings will never fossilize, even though bone is a tough substance. If the conditions are right, such as an animal, dinosaur, fish winding up in sediment, or being buried quickly, or a mass extinction leaving no predators to pred...