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Why are there so few mammal fossils compared to other animal fossils found?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
There are a number of reasons for the relatively few mammal fossils compared to others such as invertebrates.
Mammals have been around for about 220 million years, much less than others.
Most mammals are land animals whereas the best place to be preserved as a fossil is in sediment in seas or lakes.
Mammals tend to be small in earlier times, which means their bone are small and fragile.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoAs time goes on the wind erodes different parts of the species leaving only partial bits, also just the species being exposed to oxygen can break it down.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoWhen fossils keep getting covered over layers and layers of soil and rock, they are eventually pushed down into the magma deep below the surface and incinerated.
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Plant and animal fossils are most often found in metamorphic rock?
no they are found in Sedimentary rocks
What is the evidence of seafloor spreading?
Animal fossils have been found in many places in the ocean.
What kind of fossils are found in South America and South Africa?
it was the Cynognathus. Cynognathus is an extinct mammal-like reptile. The name literally means 'dog jaw'. Cynognathus was as large as a modern wolf and lived during the early to mid Triassic period (250 to 240 million years ago). It is found as fossils only in South Africa and South America.
What are fossils commonly found in?
Fossils are the remains of an animal that have been preserved in rock. This process is called fossilization. They are commonly found all over the world, but many fossils are found where ancient seas that have dried up, like the Badlands. Other fossils are found where an animal died and was eventually buried under fossilized dirt, mud, or even sand. any creature with an exoskeleton or endoskeleton can be fossilized. But most creatures in the Precambrian and Archean Periods were not fossilized because of their lack of a skeleton. Jellyfish will also just dissolve when dead.
What group are fossils never found in?
Fossils are never found in Igneous rocks
Are mammal fossils found in rock?
Fossils of animals and plants can be found in sedimentary rock (limestone, chalk, slate, etc).
What types of fossils are most likely to be found?
fish fossils and little animal fossils and also shells
What types of rocks are fossils most likely to be found?
fish fossils and little animal fossils and also shells
What rock are most marine animal fossils in?
The most marine fossils are found in sedimentary rock
Plant and animal fossils are most often found in metamorphic rock?
no they are found in Sedimentary rocks
What do fossils teach about extinction?
The kind and numbers of fossils found in different kinds of rocks give clues about past ecosystems. Fossils give evidence that, in any ecosystem, some plants and animals survive well, and some do not.
What is the main animal found in grassland?
The main grassland large mammal is the human
Can animal droppings be fossilized?
Yes, there have been many such fossils found and they are named Coprolites.
What is the evidence of seafloor spreading?
Animal fossils have been found in many places in the ocean.
How do you know dinosaurs and mammals were coexistent?
Fossils of dinosaurs and mammals have been found in the same strata. Mammal bones have been found in the stomachs of some predatory dinosaurs.
What kind of fossils are found in South America and South Africa?
it was the Cynognathus. Cynognathus is an extinct mammal-like reptile. The name literally means 'dog jaw'. Cynognathus was as large as a modern wolf and lived during the early to mid Triassic period (250 to 240 million years ago). It is found as fossils only in South Africa and South America.
Fossils are found mainly in- - - rock?
Limestone and sandstone. The rock needs to be one that's formed from sedimentation around the dead animal.
