[Explanation] The remains, relics or remains of ancient creatures were buried underground and turned into things like stones. Studying fossils can understand the evolution of organisms and help to determine the age of strata.
The remains of ancient animals or plants preserved in crustal rocks or evidence indicating the existence of remains are called fossils.
Simply put, fossils are stones made from the remains or remains of creatures living in the distant past. In the long geological era, countless creatures have lived on the earth. The remains or lives of these creatures after death are all traces left behind, and many of them were buried by the sediment at that time. In the following years, the organic matter in these biological remains was completely decomposed, and the hard parts, such as shells, bones, branches and leaves, together with the surrounding sediments, were petrified into stones, but their original forms and structures (even some subtle internal structures) still existed; Similarly, the traces left by those creatures when they are alive can be preserved in this way. We call these fossils biological remains and remains fossils. From the fossils, we can see the appearance of ancient animals and plants, from which we can infer the living conditions and living environment of ancient animals and plants, infer the formation age and historical changes of the strata where fossils are buried, and see the biological changes from ancient times to the present.
The origin of a word
The word Fossil comes from the Latin word "fossilis", which means to dig out. Most fossils are hard parts of prehistoric creatures that can be preserved. These creatures live in fossil collection areas.