Fossils are dead animals or plants. They are usually skeletons found embedded in rock. Sometimes fossils are footprints or poo. Small animals or insects get stuck in tree sap which hardens and traps them forever. Large animals can get trapped in ice, or their carcass gets trapped in layers of rock. Over thousands of years, pressure builds up and the ground. Next the mould left is filled with minerals that form rock. This rock shape is the fossil - an exact replica of the dinosaurs. This process takes 10,000 years. Palaeontologists find fossils when the top layer of dirt or rock washes away.
Skeletons - bones in a body
Palaeontologists - A scientist who studies the past. Palae means ‘the past’ and ‘ologist’ means study of.
Embedded - inside
Carcass - dead body
Dissolved - when something disappears in water
Mould - a shape that can be filled
Erode - washed away by water
Siberia - a country near Russia
Vital - important, crucial, necessary
Climate - weather
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