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w.co

llins.co

.uk ©

Harp

erCo

llinsP

ub

lishers Lim

ited 2

01

4

MODULE 2, LESSON 9, RESOURCE SHEET 1

Fossil im

age

Nam

e of fo

ssilD

escriptio

n

Am

mo

nite

Am

mo

nites w

ere marin

e creatures w

ith a sp

iral-shap

ed sh

ell. Th

e fo

ssilised rem

ains o

f their sh

ells are com

mo

n an

d o

ften fo

un

d o

n b

eaches. T

hey are aro

un

d 6

5 m

illion

years old

. On

e of th

e largest ever

collected

was o

ver 2 m

etres in d

iameter.

Trilob

iteTrilo

bites lived

in larg

e gro

up

s, so if yo

u fin

d o

ne fo

ssil, there m

ay well

be m

ore n

earby. T

here are lo

ts of d

ifferent trilo

bites, w

ith d

ifferent

shap

ed h

eads o

r tails, for exam

ple. Trilo

bite fo

ssils are som

e of th

e o

ldest, as th

ey lived ab

ou

t 54

0 m

illion

years ago

.

Clam

Clam

s and

oysters lo

ok very sim

ilar to th

e live on

es we see to

day. Yo

u m

ay find

them

with

two

shells still jo

ined

tog

ether, o

r just o

ne sh

ell. M

ost clam

s and

oysters live in

the sea. If yo

u fin

d th

em in

land

, then

the

place w

here yo

u are fo

ssil hu

ntin

g m

ust h

ave been

un

der th

e sea man

y m

illion

s of years ag

o.

Co

ralC

orals lo

ok like p

lants, b

ut are actu

ally mad

e up

 of tin

y anim

als that

live tog

ether. T

hey g

row

 in w

arm, sh

allow

seas and

form

big

reefs. So

me co

ral fossils are m

ore th

an 4

00

millio

n years o

ld.

FOSSIL IDENTIFIER

51439_P196_233.indd 21751439_P196_233.indd 217 31/01/2014 12:5731/01/2014 12:57

ww

w.co

llins.co

.uk ©

Harp

erCo

llinsP

ub

lishers Lim

ited 2

01

4

Fossil im

age

Nam

e of fo

ssilD

escriptio

n

Sea Urch

ins

and

Starfishes

A livin

g sea u

rchin

has a ro

un

d sh

ell covered

in sp

ines. If yo

u fin

d a fo

ssilised sea u

rchin

, usu

ally you

will o

nly see th

e bo

dy, as th

e sp

ines fall o

ff after it dies. Starfish

fossils are rare, b

ecause th

ey are very frag

ile and

break easily. If yo

u fin

d an

y, you

can reco

gn

ise them

b

ecause th

ey are the sh

ape o

f a five-po

inted

star.

Din

osau

r parts

Fossil rem

ains o

f differen

t kind

s of d

ino

saurs – b

on

es, teeth an

d fo

otp

rints – can

tell us a lo

t abo

ut w

here an

d h

ow

they lived

. Th

ey w

ere on

Earth aro

un

d th

e same tim

e as amm

on

ites, abo

ut 6

5 m

illion

years ago

.

Plan

t remain

sM

any kin

ds o

f plan

ts have b

een fo

ssilised, p

reserved in

mu

d. Yo

u m

ay see fo

ssilised leaves, b

ranch

es, bark o

r fir con

es. Man

y of th

ese remain

s d

ate back h

un

dred

s of m

illion

s of years.

MODULE 2, LESSON 9, RESOURCE SHEET 1, CONTINUED

FOSSIL IDENTIFIER

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