Earth Sciences 1081A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Taphonomy, Abrasive Blasting, Disarticulation
Document Summary
Lecture 15: to be or not to be. Focus: factors that influence the preservation of dead remains and how dead remains become body fossils. Defined as the study of post-mortem processes (physical, chemical and biological factors) Misconception that fossils are dead remains that turn into rocks. Reality: less than 5% of all remains of living things actually become fossilized, and survive into the geologic record. After an organism dies, its tissues are destroyed due to different factors: macroscopic level: Large scavengers take their share of soft tissues and will separate and scatter some of the hard parts. Insects lay eggs on dead remains; their larvae have a field day on the tissue that has started to decompose (zombifying) Microbes break down dead organic matter further at the molecular level. Decay often proceed from the inside out (in animals, gut bacteria can jump-start the process) Hard parts are preferentially preserved but rarely preserved together.