ANTH-UA 2 Chapter Notes -James Hutton, Mesozoic, Radiocarbon Dating
21 Oct 2014
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Document Summary
Paleontology = the study of extinct organisms, based on their fossilized remains. Fossils = the preserved remains of once-living things, often buried in the ground. Geology = the study of earth systems. Very few living things become fossils, and only a small proportion of these fossils are fossil record is not entirely representative of the discovered, collected, and studied composition of past biological communities. Taphonomy = the study of what happens to the remains of an animal from the time of death to the time of discovery; reveals some of the factors that determine whether an organism becomes a fossil. Part of the organism must be preserved by burial, a natural process in which the carcass or part of it is covered with sediment. Burial interrupts the biological phase of decomposition, protecting the skeleton from further ravaging and trampling by biological organisms.
