Chapter 1

A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF FOSSILS

1.1 FOSSILS-WHAT ARE THEY ?
The word fossil in latin means 'anything dug up' or extracted from the earth. The terms
Fossilia nqtiva and Fossilia petrificata were used to describe minerals and organic remains
respectively. A precise definition of fossil may be as follows : Fossil is an actual remai11-or
indirect evidenc� of a prehistoric_ life pr�se_i::�d_-.yJ_t�in_ __� rC>C½_ �nd���!}Ir�I ���dit ���s. Therefore,
_ _ _ t
before constdermg an object as a fossil one should be careful.\l};i-fsffy, tfie object m concern
must have·soine relation to an organismJQ'his relation �� be direct or indirect. No structure
produced by an inorganic process should be called a fossj.ll�econdly, the related organism must
be prehistoric in nature. By the term prehistoric we mean anything prior to the beginning of
history of modern man who appeared at about 40,000 years ago) So anythil}g_!elated to m�d�rn
ma1Lshould not be treated- as--a__fus_siL .Thus remains of the Indus civilization or the Nile
civilization are not fossils; rather they are ancient historical remains or archaeological remains;
but the remains of Neanderthals and the stone tools used, by them are fossils as these are
prehistoric remains--�hirdly, the fossil must be preserved by natural_ process� An organic
material pres_eJy__ e_cLarttfig_ially is not a fossil. Thus 'mummy' of Egypt is by no means a fossil.
1

As organisms are mostly i�biting on the earth stirface, their fossils are mostly preserved within
·-sedimentary rocks forming on the earth surface. Volcanic rocks, also forming on the earth surface
may sometimes contain well-preserved fossils.

1.2 KIND OF FOSSILS

According to type of_organisms fossils may �e called(plant fossils..9J animal foss�Both
of them may be represented by complete organisms or�mented parts of them. In another
way fossils may be grouped considering their size viz.,( '!!crofi!g.ils._J!J.W meggf�ils)�arg_er
aniQials and plants found in unbroken or broken conditions constitute -.mega or macrofossils.- ,
r
( Microfossils are those which may or may not be visible in naked eye but the microscopic
·-observation is a must for their proper recognitiog),.'.fhey may represent very small-sized animals_
or plants or microscopic parts of larger animals or plants. For.aminifera__and radiolaria are
protozoan ani_1!1�1s often preserved as microfoss\ls. Ostracodes and estherians are arthropod­
microfossils. Diatom is a microscopic algae. Spores and pollen, microscopic reproductive units
of plants are also common plant-microfossils. On the other hand, echinoid spines, plates and
some microelements of unknown affinity like conodonts are also treated as microfossils. Study
of microfossils has gained much importance at present as study of microfossils has several
advantages over megafossils. A small rock sample may yield numerous 1 microfossils so that
they can be investigated as a population. They also show a minimum degree of deformation
and morphologic changes at the time of fossilization for their small size. The branch of
�-"Y-�!ch deals with_ various awects of microfQ��il_�--!� �ailed Micropalaeontology.
Palynology is a branchof micropalaeontology dealing with fossil sporei-andpofienonly;
 OGY A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF FOSSILS 5
IA.I Soft parts as fossils
In rare occasions- soft parts of organisms or a soft bodied animal may be preserved in nature
under a very special condition. The entombment of insects in fossil resins or ambers (found
within Silurian rocks of China} or frozen mammoth and Rhinoceros within Pleistocene Siberian
ice are some examples. This is a very rare type of preservation which may be possible under
some conditions which prevent action of bacteria and scavengers (such as sudden entrapment
within resin or ice). Outer woolly skin,. soft muscular inner parts, blood or even the last food
taken by the animals are found intact and undecomposed within the fossils of Siberian ice that
has acted as a natural refrigerator.
1.4.2 Hard part fossils
The most of the common type of fossils found in nature are the exoskeletons or endoskeletons
of animals or hard tissues of plants. They may be divided into two groups viz., unaltered fossils
and altered fossils.
(i) Unaltered hard parts
In this case, the original structure and/or composition of the hard parts remain unchanged
even after their fossilization. Many animals have hard parts composed· of inorganic matters
_ and accordingly, the hard-part fossils may be calcitic or aragonitic (most common within
invertebrate exoskeletons such as corals, brachiopods, molluscs and echinoderms),
phosphatic (vertebrate bones) and silicious (such as skeletons of radiolarias, sponges and
also some planktic algae, like diatoms). Organic hard parts are composed of chitin (found
in many arthropods), keratin, cellulose, bark etc. The last three are generally found within
a plant body. The common type of fossil hard parts and their relative abundance are shown
in Table-1.

TABLE�l
Important compositional materials of organic skeletons

·-
�arl Carbonate Phosphate Silica Chitin Cellulose
:�
I °' a
i • Algae X X
' ..l
' Ill Higher Plant X
. �
!�
·<
�c.,
Protozoa X X

Porifera X X

Cnidaria X

Bryozoa X X

Brachiopoda X X

Mollusca X

Annelida X X

_ Arthropoda X X X

Echinoderma
.
X

Chordata- X

'
. --------- ----�-----�--
6 PALAEONTOLOGY A GENE}

(ii) Altered hard parts space be

In most of the cases, however, fossilization processes cause partial or complete change gastropo,
of the composition and structure of hard parts thus producing. altered fossils. In a distillized the void!
fossil, some portion of original skeletal matters may be lost through leaching or solution moulds.
by chemically active fluids making the fossil porous and lighter than the original one. In · More
other cases, when an original skeletal body itself is porous, the fossilization leads to organisn
infilling of those pores by mineral matters making the fossil skeleton more massive, hard ichnofos
and heavy. These are called permineralized fossils. More common is the process where sort of r
materials of original organic skeleton are removed with simultaneous addition of new bed. Th
mineral matters. Sometimes, this replacement takes place slowly volume to volume, or (dinosm:
even molecule to molecule. When such a process operates, in most of the cases, the tunnels,
original organic structure of the skeleton may remain intact with only change of materia
composition (petrified fossil). This type of replacement fossil commonly found within gastroli1
plants where organic matters of plant tissues are replaced by some inorganic minerals the heh
through solution without destroying the tissue structure of plant. Silica is a common cubiclrn
replacing mineral and silicious petrified stem-fossils are very common in nature. Other domic/i;
are com
common minerals causing petrification are hematite, pyrite, calcite etc.
(ecolog:
Carbonization is also a process commonly found in plants somewhat analogous to in ecolc
distillation, where all other organic matters within a plant body are removed except the Some c
carbon. This removal is due to increased temperature and pressure together with activity Stuc
of anaerobic bacteria after deep burial of plant-materials. For the reason of enrichment especia
of carbon most of the plant fossils are looked black. Formation of coal from plants as they
however represents an extreme stage of carbonization process when the organic structures conditi
of plants are completely lost. carbon:
In some cases,. it is found that a mineral of the original skeleton may become unstable enviror
inverte
at depth with increase of pressure-temperature when· it recrystallizes to form a more stable
mineral. These are recrystallized fossils. Aragonite is mostly recrystallized to calcite .as
the latter is a more stable form of the mineral composed of calcium carbonate. For this 1.5 Cl
reason, aragonitic skeletons are very rare within fossils older than· Cenozoic age. Fine Fos
. calcite grains of a skeleton may be recrystallized to coarse calcite. Such processes do (a)
not cause any compositional change and are often called isochemicai alteration. Excess
recrytallization under· metamorphic condition may cause partial or total destruction of
organic structures. (b)
1.4.3 Indirect fossil
Sometimes what we get as a fossil may not represent the actual organism or its skeleton
but may give some indirect evidences of its existence. These are called indirect fossils. Plant
leaves are very often found as imprints i.e. the actual leaf is lost leaving its impression on the
soft sediment surface. These are called imprints fossils. (e
A mould fossil may be formed when an organic body (skeleton) within sediment is removed
totally by solution or leaching leaving a void of its shape at its place. If the sediment
surrounding this void. be fine enough, details of external features of the shell may be preserved.
This forms an external mould. If the organic shell encloses a hollow space as for instance the Palae('