Identify events and patterns in the fossil record - Earth Science

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Question

Which of the following would NOT be found in the fossil record?

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Answer

The answer is "dinosaur hearts" because hearts are soft body parts and do not fossilize well.

Scientists date and categorize fossils to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of forms over millions of years. Fossils are found in rocks and can be formed from hard parts of organisms, such as bones and shells, but soft parts do not form fossils well and fossils of body parts like feathers are much more rare.

One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.

Major extinction events and natural disasters such as drought or volcanic eruptions can also be seen in the fossil record. Notably the fossil record has large amounts of iridium in the layer titled The 'K–T Boundary' or 'end Cretaceous event', which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs on land. Scientists believe this extinction was the result of a large meteor striking Earth.

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