Report on Fossilized Shells

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Biology Report
1. Many of the fossils examined in this report are fossilized shells. Why is a shell more likely to
be fossilized than the soft tissues of organisms? How do scientists know the shape of the soft
tissues of the organism given that soft tissues are not fossilized?
Answer 1
Shells are hard body parts of an organism that can easily be preserved as fossils. Although they
might be broken, worn or dissolved before being buried by sediments, shells do not decompose
easily hence the reason why they can easily be fossilized. On the other hand, soft tissues of the
organism are hard to preserve since they decompose easily. They need special conditions for
preserving. When investigating shells, the first step is to identify the fossil to and make sure it is
a true fossil and not modern shell. On the other hand, scientists use the void of the shell filled
with precipitating minerals to determine the shape of soft tissues. Ideally, most of the tissues take
the form of the fossilized shell where they are housed.
2. Describe the steps that take place for animal with a shell to become fossilized
Answer 2
For an animal with a shell to become fossilized, a certain set of stages must occur.
1. Death of the organism; for an animal to become fossilized, it must either die in water or
outside water as well as fall into it because water plays an integral role in fossils formation and
also helps preserve the dead animal long enough for fossilization to occur.
2. Bacterial consumption; as the organism starts decaying, bacteria eats up the soft tissues
leaving behind the hard body features like the shell as shown in the picture above.
3. Sedimentation; dirt, dust or mud should settle on the remains of an animal. The faster the
rate of sedimentation the more the likelihood the remains will fossilize. Earth shifting events like
faulting cause sedimentation to occur much faster.
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