1. A fourth grade experience in exploring fossils
Digging Up The Past
A fourth grade experience in exploring fossils
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Grading Rubric

2. Click on a fossil to begin
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Click on a fossil to begin
Fossils in Utah

3. Back to
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Fossils

4. A fossil is an impression, cast,
What is a fossil?
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A fossil is an impression, cast,
original material or track of any animal or plant that is preserved in rock after the original organic material is transformed or removed.

5. A fossil may be: an original skeleton or shell; a mold or cast;
material that has replaced the once living thing;
traces such as footprints or worm tubes

6. What conditions promote fossilization?
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Hard body parts such as skeletal bones or exoskeletons

7. What conditions promote fossilization?
Rapid burial and/or lack of oxygen

8. What are the fossil types?
Body fossils – actual parts of an organism, unaltered or altered
bones, shells, leaf imprints
Trace fossils – evidence of life that is not a body fossil
tracks, burrows, casts

9. Body fossils

10. Trace Fossils

11. What are the modes of fossil preservation for body fossils?
Unaltered
Original Material - original,
unaltered material from the living organism unaltered bone or shell
Encrustations or entombments –
material is trapped inside coating such as amber

12. What are the modes of fossil preservation?
Altered
Permineralization – pores in tissue are filled by minerals
Replacement – replacement of tissue with minerals

13. What are the modes of fossil preservation for body fossils?
Altered
Carbonization – tissue material is decomposed or reduced to a film of carbon

14. More on trace fossils
Mold – reproduction of the inside or outside surface of a living thing
Cast – duplicate of the original organism; usually formed by replacement of inside of living thing

15. More on trace fossils Burrows or borings –
Spaces dug out by living things and preserved as is or filled in

16. More on trace fossils
Gastroliths – smooth stones from abdominal cavity of dinosaurs
Coprolites – fossilized excrement; usually preserved by replacement

17. More on trace fossils
Tracks – impressions of passage of living things

18. Fossils in Utah
Where are they?
(PUSH ENTER)

19. Click on a star to find information about fossils found in this area.

20. Millard County TRILOBITES
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TRILOBITES
Trilobites are extinct marine (water) animals that existed 550 million to around 300 million years ago in the seas that once covered Utah. They are related to crustaceans of today such as crabs and lobsters. There are many kinds of trilobites found all over the world. Trilobites were easily fossilized because as they died, their bodies settled to the sea bottom where they were covered by layer after layer of new soil.

21. Emery County Allosaurus
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Allosaurus
Of the bones taken out of Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, about three-quarters belong to the meat-eater Allosaurus. This predator has sharp claws, strong jaws and sharp teeth.

22. Emery County Stegosaurus
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Stegosaurus
The STEGOSAURUS was a dinosaur from the Jurassic period (about 200 million years ago). You can recognize it by the bony plates that run down the neck and back. It had a small head with a walnut-sized brain (the same as a kitten)! The stegosaurus was a plant eater. The bones of the Stegosaurus are found throughout the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry, but especially in "Stegosaurus Corner" where four skeletons were discovered.

23. Emery County Camarasaurus
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Camarasaurus
CAMARASAURUS means "chambered lizard" because of the hollow chambers in its backbones. This made it lighter, so the Camarasaurus could move easily. These plant-eaters grew larger than the quarry building.

24. Uintah County Allosaurus
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Allosaurus
This predator has sharp claws, strong jaws and sharp teeth. It is from the late Jurassic period. The ALLOSAURUS is Utah’s State Fossil.
Marshosaurus
Marshosaurus is small, rare theropod (beast footed). It is a carnivore that reached lengths up to 16 feet and was named after O.C. Marsh, a famous paleontologist from the 1800s.

25. Uintah County Camarasaurus
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Camarasaurus
CAMARASAURUS means "chambered lizard" because of the hollow chambers in its backbones. This made it lighter, so the Camarasaurus could move easily. These dinosaurs reached lengths of 50 feet! Camarasaurus walked on all fours, but could rear up on its hind legs to reach high trees to feed with its strong, spoon shaped teeth.

26. Grand County Utahraptor
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UTAHRAPTOR was discovered in 1991 by Dr. Jim Kirkland in a desert near Moab, Utah. It was a meat-eater and used its large, razor-sharp claws to cut into its prey. Its build shows it was a speedy predator, and evidence suggests that it was pack hunter. Like other meat-eating dinosaurs, raptors walked on two legs.
Claw
Utahraptor
Skull
Claw

27. Summit County SABER TOOTHED CAT
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SABER TOOTHED CAT
The SABER-TOOTHED CAT fossil was found near Park City. It is an extinct ice age animal.

28. Iron County
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OYSTERS
A shallow sea entered this area from the east about million years ago. There are several layers of limestone here made almost entirely of shells and shell pieces.

29. Box Elder County TRILOBITES
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TRILOBITES
Trilobites are extinct marine (water) animals that existed 550 million to around 300 million years ago in the seas that once covered Utah. They are related to crustaceans of today such as crabs and lobsters. There are many different kinds of trilobites found all over the world. Trilobites were easily fossilized because as they died their bodies settled to the sea bottom where they were covered by layer after layer of new soil deposits.

30. Crinoid
Tooele County
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About 350 million years ago, warm shallow seas rich with life covered most of Utah. West of Salt Lake in Tooele County, fossils of crinoids or sea lilies, two-valved seashells (brachiopods) and coral are found.
Brachiopod
Crinoid Stems
Horn Coral

31. Wayne County PETRIFIED WOOD
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PETRIFIED WOOD
PETRIFIED WOOD and agate have been found by Capitol Reef National Park. Petrified wood is a fossil in which the organic material has been replaced by minerals during the fossilization process.

32. Sanpete County HUNTINGTON MAMMOTH
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HUNTINGTON MAMMOTH
The HUNTINGTON MAMMOTH was found in 1988 by people working on a dam. It is an ice age animal. The skeleton was 90% complete. The Huntington mammoth lived about 10,500 years ago. Tooth wear and arthritis in its bones tells us it was a very old mammoth. Scientists could tell what its last meal was!

33. Garfield County Stegosaurus
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Stegosaurus
The stegosaurus was a dinosaur from the Jurassic period (about 195 million years ago) and has been found in several places in Utah. You can recognize it by the bony plates that run down the neck and back. It had a small head with a walnut-sized brain (the same as a kitten)! The stegosaurus was a plant eater.

34. Calendar
Click below to view the calendar of fossil activities

35. Warning!
Using MS WORD, write a letter to an extinct animal (maybe a dinosaur or trilobite) or fossilized plant warning it of its future. Think of fossil as your friend. Describe the events that occur that eventually lead it to become a fossil.