The Birth of Dinosaur Fossils
Even though dinosaurs have been extinct from the Earth for millions of years, we can still learn about their different species from the fossilised remains left in the excavation sites.
When a dinosaur died, most of its remains were decayed completely. By a small chance, however, given the right location and the right timing, some of the remains would be preserved as fossils.
For example, dinosaurs that died in a river-edge beach were rapidly buried under sand or mud sediments; thus, were protected from decaying completely. Only the soft tissue of the organism, like the skin was decayed while the skeletal elements remained. And with time, those remains would go through fossilisation processes.
Over time more sediment piled up over those remains, layer by layer, thousands of metres deep under the Earth’s surface. And when underground water leaked slowly through each layer of the sediment, minerals seeped into the bone cavities, which became hardened over time and eventually the fossils were formed.
Later on when the Earth’s crust shifted and rose to the surface, those sedimentary rocks were eroded by wind and weather over a long period of time. Dinosaur fossils and traces emerged to the Earth’s surface after they were buried deep underground for millions of years.
The Birth of Dinosaur Fossils
