Fossils For Sale » Fossils For Sale

Fossils For Sale News July 2009

Fossils for Sale — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:30 +0000

This is a new type of post from us, a regular quick summary of interesting fossil related stories from around the world wehave found that you may like to check out. Hope you like it!

Scientists Flesh Out Fossilized Tissues from Mummified Dinosaur (scientificamerican.com)
Australians scientists discover 3 new dinosaur species (cbc.ca)
Dinosaur mummy yields its secrets (news.bbc.co.uk)
Feathered dinosaur throws bird evolution into a flap (telegraph.co.uk)

NICE LOT OF KENTUCKY FOSSILS OVER 150
US $24.99

WHITE BAMBOO CORAL FOSSIL SPECIMEN TASMANIA AUSTRALIA
US $13.99

Australiceras Jackii Fossil Ammonite Walsh River Austra
US $19.99

Fossil Fish Multiple Plate Greenriver shale Wyoming
US $44.99

1 3 8 in Fossil Shark Tooth Necklace 20 in Puka Coconut Sharks Teeth Jewelry
US $15.00

Reedops maurulus TRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $19.00

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Fossils For Sale News July 2009

Related fossils for sale posts:

Dinosaur Fossils For Sale When most people think of fossils they immediately think of...
Fish Fossils Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect....
Trilobite Fossils For Sale After the ammonite, trilobites must be most commonly known and...

Podcast Alley

Fossils for Sale — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:25:04 +0000

We now have a Podcast Alley feed:

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-49ef37da17fd3234401b4ab363421baf}

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Podcast Alley

No related posts.

Coral Fossil

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:19:01 +0000

It may surprise some to learn that corals can also become fossils, but in fact the oldest fossil corals are some 450 million years old, from the Ordovican period. Corals are polyps (having a body sac) and a skelleton that can become fossilised, and may live as individulas or as a colony of many polyps, eventually forming a coral reef. They are some of the most beautiful and colourful of all marine creatures and make fascinating fossils for any collection!

3 Heads Agatized Coral Head Withlacoochee Florida Mineral Specimen Knapp Tumble
US $21.00

Tampa Agatized Florida Coral Fossil 8 LBS Fingers Un Cut
US $25.00

WHITE BAMBOO CORAL FOSSIL SPECIMEN TASMANIA AUSTRALIA
US $13.99

Beautiful deep sea shape coral branch 77g
US $9.99

China South Sea Nature Shape Coral Branch
US $58.99

FOSSILS BEAUTIFUL PLIOCENE CALCITIC SOLENASTREA CORAL
US $11.99

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Coral Fossil

Related fossils for sale posts:

Fossil Buyers Guide Perhaps you've just recently become interested in collecting fossils or...

Dinosaur Fossils For Sale

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:46:18 +0000

When most people think of fossils they immediately think of complete dinosaur skeletons such as a giant T Rex, complete in all its details. The truth is that there are far more incomplete skeletons or mere fragments of dinosaur bone than complete skeletons out there. For most people and many collectors the thought of owning or finding a dinosaur fossil, even if only a small piece of bone is very exciting. But, beware fakes abound, so check out our fossil buyer's guide before taking the plunge!

So, if you want to own a genuine fossilised part of a dinosaur, check below!

JURASSIC DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT 3D Cast Ornithopod Lower Jurassic 190 Million Yrs
US $22.32

Dactylioceras commune Jurassic Dinosaur Age Genuine Whitby Ammonite Fossil A31
US $28.44

Hildoceras Jurassic Dinosaur Age Genuine Whitby Ammonite Fossil A97
US $4.27

Large 44 Inch Perimeter of Triceratops Frill Dinosaur fossil bone
US $1,600.00

19 mm DOUBLE CRUCILOBICERAS GOLD PYRITE DINOSAUR AGE JURASSIC DOLLS MINIATURES
US $4.27

UNUSUAL 80 mm CRUCILOBICERAS GOLD PYRITE JURASSIC DINOSAUR AGE SOLID BIG ONE OFF
US $5.06

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Dinosaur Fossils For Sale

Related fossils for sale posts:

Fossils For Sale News July 2009 This is a new type of post from us, a...
Fish Fossils Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect....
Fossil Buyers Guide Perhaps you've just recently become interested in collecting fossils or...

Megalodon Teeth For Sale

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:12:10 +0000

There is much interest in the Megalodon shark amongst fossil collectors and the curious. The Megalodon shark was a giant shark that lived from about 1.5 million years ago to 18,000,000 years ago, living during the Miocene and Pliocene ages, becoming extinct during the Pliocene. It was the largest carnivorous shark and indeed the largest carnivorous fish known to have existed and may be the largest shark to have ever lived. They could grow up to 16 m in length (more than 49 feet) and had jaws over 2 m wide. It used to prey on whales and other large marine animals and was at the top of the food chain.

Like all sharks, Megalodon is a cartilaginous Fish, i.e. it has no bony skeleton but is rather largely made up of cartilage. From the fossil point of view, this means that the only part of its body likely to be fossilised are the teeth. Megalodon teeth are much sought after by collectors not least because of their sheer size and ancient age. Many other types of fossilised shark teeth are also available, but it is the Megalodon shark and its teeth that catches peoples imagination.

Below are some examples of Megalodon shark teeth for sale. Many collectors would love to add a Megalodon tooth to their collection of fossil shark teeth.

39 and 49 Megalodon Meg Fossil Shark Tooth Teeth Pair
US $79.00

MEGALODON FOOD 5 CETACEAN TEETH LEE CREEK AURORA NC
US $20.00

MEGALODON Shark Tooth 525 from GA NO RESERVE 116
US $120.00

Megalodon Fossil Sharks Tooth
US $1.04

Venice beach Florida Fossil Megalodon Shark Tooth169 F908
US $5.50

Venice beach Florida Fossil Megalodon Shark Tooth 235 F909
US $.99

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Megalodon Teeth For Sale

Related fossils for sale posts:

Fish Fossils Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect....

Trilobite Fossils For Sale

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:43:49 +0000

After the ammonite, trilobites must be most commonly known and collected fossils. The trilobite is part of an extinct group of arthropods that lived in the sea over 350 million years ago. Trilobites existed during the Palaeozoic era from the lower Cambrian until the late Permian periods. They have no modern forms-95% of all marine life became extinct in the Permian extinction event, though they are closely related to crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs. In appearance the nearest living equivalent is probably the wood louse or pill bug, though this is obviously no relative however distant. The segmented body is however rather reminiscent of the trilobite. The name trilobite derives from the fact that the body of a trilobite can be divided in length three ways into two outer lobes and the central lobe. Trilobites had compound eyes like many crustaceans and insects do today and in fact the eyes of the trilobite are the most ancient visual perception system known. Like woodlice trilobites had the ability to roll up tucking their tails underneath them for protection and indeed some have been found fossilised in this state. There were many thousands of species of trilobites and most are about 2 to 10 cm in length but a few species grew to nearly 1 m in length.

Trilobites are favourite fossil for collectors easily available in common forms although some varieties are rare and consequently much sought-after. Have a look to see what is currently available to buy below:

Russian trilobite Asaphus punctatus LESSNIKOVA 1949
US $69.00

Reedops maurulus TRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $19.00

Coltraneia effelesa TRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $19.00

Acastoides sp TRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $19.00

Grotalocephalus sp TRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $19.00

Lobopyge brankivensisTRILOBITE FOSSILS
US $79.00

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Trilobite Fossils For Sale

Related fossils for sale posts:

Fossils For Sale News July 2009 This is a new type of post from us, a...

Raw Amber

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:27:01 +0000

Raw amber is amber in its natural raw form without any form of polishing processing or otherwise being adulterated. It is commonly used by people intending to produce amber jewellery or the like. To find out more about amber have a look at our article 'what is amber?', and to find out how to go about buying amber check out our amber buyers guide.

We have a wide range of raw amber available including Baltic amber and Dominican amber-please have a look at our current range!

Raw Natural Baltic 400g NO Holed Amber Loose stones
US $31.95

Natural true raw Baltic amber nekclace with bracelet therapeutic medical
US $15.50

Amber Baltic to 3cm LotRaw Rough 50g
US $12.99

100 natural raw genuine Baltic amber necklace and bracelet therapeutic
US $17.00

Tiny Rough Raw Baltic amber 50g to 05cm Lot
US $6.00

Lot of Butterscotch rough raw Baltic fossil amber stones10mm 25mm 1000g
US $800.00

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Raw Amber

Related fossils for sale posts:

Amber Buyer’s Guide Amber comes in many different shapes sizes and colours and...

Ammonite Fossils

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:44:50 +0000

The fossil ammonite is the classic fossil-what the man in the street thinks of when asked what fossil looks like. ammonites lived in the seas for about 140 million years, becoming extinct approximately 65 million years ago, about the same time as the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. They first appeared during the Carboniferous period approximately 208,000,000 years ago becoming very abundant in the prehistoric seas. Ammonites belong to the group of creatures known as cephalopods, a group of creatures that today includes the ammonites closest living relatives such as the cuttlefish, octopus and squid. The only living creature that gives us a close approximation to the ammonite is the Nautilus which has very similar spiral shell structure.

The majority of ammonites have the characteristic coiled shell that is internally split into a number of small chambers. The ammonite itself lived in one of these chambers and when it grew too large for its current living chamber it formed a new one adjacent to the existing living chamber and then moved into it. This constant adding of chambers gives rise to the characteristic spiral shape of ammonites. The empty chambers were filled with gas and use to provide buoyancy in the ocean. Ammonites range in size from the quite small to the very large with large specimens commonly having shells of a metre across and weighing perhaps 100 kg. The very largest ammonites had shells with a diameter of 2.2 m.

The great thing about ammonites is as they were so prolific in the prehistoric oceans there are many many ammonite fossils to be found now. Indeed a short walk along the foreshore at Charmouth last summer produced severa,l much to my son's delight! They can also be easily found on the beaches to the west of Lyme Regis. A properly prepared ammonite can be a thing of beauty - have a look at the range shown below to see what is currently available:

Australiceras Jackii Fossil Ammonite Walsh River Austra
US $19.99

Dactylioceras commune Jurassic Dinosaur Age Genuine Whitby Ammonite Fossil A31
US $28.44

Hildoceras Jurassic Dinosaur Age Genuine Whitby Ammonite Fossil A97
US $4.27

LOVELY AMMOLITE AMMONITE RARE FREEFORM STONE FOSSILS
US $11.04

915CT 100 Iridescent Ammonite Ammolite Facet Rough Specimen Fossil YAM197
US $4.32

187CT 100 Iridescent Ammonite Ammolite Facet Rough Specimen Fossil YAM280
US $4.02

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Ammonite Fossils

Related fossils for sale posts:

Trilobite Fossils For Sale After the ammonite, trilobites must be most commonly known and...
What are fossils? Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals and...

Fish Fossils

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:16:26 +0000

Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect. Ranging from pieces of the larger fish bones such as vertebrae, to complete skeletons or a ghostly outline of a fish in the rock, they are perennially popular with collectors and the curious. With such a wide range of types of fish fossil available, there is something for everyone from pocket money prices to the rare and consequently expensive! Have a look what we currently have on offer or come back soon when we are sure to have different items for you to check out.

If you are new to fossil collecting, you might like to check out our fossil buyer's guide to help you in your quest.

Fossil Fish Multiple Plate Greenriver shale Wyoming
US $44.99

Fossil fish DOUBLE fish plate 2 fossil Knightia Eocene
US $23.00

Tryplomystus spFISHFOSSILS
US $39.00

ClupeaFISHFOSSILS
US $19.00

VTG Marthas VINEYARD Mass FOSSIL Barnacle CLAM Fish ROCK Meteorite SOIL Sample
US $11.00

Beautiful KNIGHTIA Fish Fossil Wyoming 40 Million Years Old
US $.99

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Fish Fossils

Related fossils for sale posts:

What are fossils? Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals and...

Insects in Amber – Amber Inclusions

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:43:30 +0000

One of the most exciting finds is a piece of Amber with something trapped within it. Made famous by the film Jurassic Park insects in Amber are rare and fascinating survivors from the distant past. Properly called inclusions, many different things can become trapped in amber. How? Amber is fossilised tree resin so millions of years ago resin oozing from a tree could trap an insect in its sticky embrace. When the tree resin turns over millions of years into Amber, the insect becomes preserved for all time within the Amber. It is not just insects that can be found trapped in amber, but often plant material including rarely flowers and other small animals such as frogs and sometimes even larger insects. This is very rare however, and many of the examples of larger trapped creatures are in fact fake-have a look at our Amber buyer's guide for some tips to help you avoid these. The most obvious thing to watch for is a very obviously posed specimen trapped in a perfect shaped piece of Amber. In reality what you're most likely to find are flies trapped in irregular shaped pieces of Amber and trapped in such a way as it is obvious that they were struggling and not posing for the camera! Have a look at what is currently available on eBay which is a great source for Amber inclusions!

Genuine Baltic Amber Crystal Gem Mineral Fossil with Insect Inclusion 230 carat
US $9.98

Genuine Baltic Amber Crystal Gem Mineral Fossil with Insect Inclusion 290 carat
US $9.98

Genuine Baltic Amber Crystal Gem Mineral Fossil with Insect Inclusion 240 carat
US $9.98

Fossil Insect Ant Inclusion in Genuine Baltic Amber Pendant 925 Sterling Silver
US $22.99

1 Baltic amber stone with genuine fossils insect inclusion
US $14.00

Single Celled Organism Inclusion New Jersey Cretaceous Amber Microscope Slide
US $9.99

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Insects in Amber – Amber Inclusions

Related fossils for sale posts:

What is Amber? Although it might not look like what is commonly thought...
Amber Buyer’s Guide Amber comes in many different shapes sizes and colours and...

What is Amber?

Fossils for Sale — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:39:52 +0000

Although it might not look like what is commonly thought of as a fossil, Amber is indeed a fossil. Much appreciated for its colour and beauty it is often treated as a gemstone and comes in a range of colours not just the classic amber colour. In fact it can range in colour from white through pale lemon yellow all the way up to Brown or even black. There are even more rare colours available such as red Amber (often called Cherry Amber) and even green and blue Amber. These other colours are rare and much sought-after. Amber itself can be completely transparent, cloudy or even opaque. Opaque amber is opaque because of the myriad of minute bubbles it contains.

So how does Amber form? What is it? As already mentioned Amber is a fossil. It is in fact fossil tree resin - not sap as it is often believed to be. Most genuine amber is between 30 and 90 million years old and usually comes from resin produced by coniferous trees although Amber can also be produced from resin secreted by deciduous trees such as the cherry or plum tree. Amber can also come from resin produced by eucalyptus trees and indeed many other types of tree. The resin is commonly secreted by the tree when it is under stress such as in periods of climate change. This resin becomes trapped and hardens over millions of years to form Amber. Younger resin is commonly referred to as copal, which looks very much like real amber but is not as yet changed sufficiently to become full Amber. Amber's chemical name is succcinite and the process by which it actually forms is a type of polymerisation of the natural organic compounds in the resin.

Where is Amber found?

The most common place to find Amber it is on the shores of the Baltic Sea or in the Dominican Republic although it is sometimes found in many other areas including washed up on the beaches of the east coast of the UK. Amber can be collected from these deposits washed upon the beaches but it can also be commercially mined. The Amber deposits of the Dominican Republic and the Baltic are believed to be the world's largest and hence most of the Amber used in jewellery comes from these sources. If you are lucky you may even be able to find a piece of Amber yourself on the seashore. For the rest of us there is always eBay! Have a look at our other articles about Amber including our very useful Amber buyer's guide-don't get caught out and end up buying fake amber.

Very RARE Very Large Violet BLUE Amber from Sumatra Island INDONESIA 498 g
US $15.50

12 Beetles Flies Ant Bryophyte Enhydros in BIG 359 g Colombian COPAL amber
US $7.52

5 Pieces of Dominican Amber with Variety of Insects
US $20.00

RARE Extinct Hymenaea Protera Flower Petal in Dominican Amber
US $.99

Ancient Fossil Insects 3 4 Insects Trapped in Baltic Amber Stone 40M Yrs
US $13.09

Genuine Baltic Amber Crystal Gem Mineral Fossil with Insect Inclusion 230 carat
US $9.98

Post from: Fossils For Sale

What is Amber?

Related fossils for sale posts:

Insects in Amber – Amber Inclusions One of the most exciting finds is a piece of...
Amber Buyer’s Guide Amber comes in many different shapes sizes and colours and...

Fossil Buyers Guide

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:29:43 +0000

Perhaps you've just recently become interested in collecting fossils or perhaps it's been a long-term interest. Maybe you've even found some fossils of your own and are now thinking of adding more to your collection? Whatever your reasons there can be no doubt that fossil collecting can be a very rewarding and enjoyable hobby and very educational to boot! Indeed fossils can be wonderful decorative items for your home also with a large collection looking particularly impressive.

There are not many guides available for the 'newbie' fossil collector and most that do exist are are far from comprehensive. In a article like this it is not possible to cover the enormous breadth of the field of fossil collecting - in fact it may be that there is no other field of collectables that requires the depth and breadth of knowledge that collecting fossils requires. A good place to start for the new collector is with one of the collector's guide books that can be found. Try your local library or indeed just web searches to get some pointers. However there is no general guide on the market equivalent to the antiques price guides that can be found if collecting antiques is your hobby. This leads to the new collector being at somewhat of a disadvantage when appraising fossils for sale, which given the wide availability of fossils these days (especially on eBay) is a potential issue.

EBay has revolutionised many collectable markets and the fossil market is no exception. There is now a very wide range of fossils for sale on eBay, ranging in price from pocket money fossils to those potentially costing many thousands of pounds. With this in mind it's worth spending some time covering the possible pitfalls awaiting the unwary eBay fossil buyer. Of course any buyer on eBay should take some basic precautions when buying - please have a look at our general eBay buyer's guide for things to look out for. I hope this doesn't put you off - there really are some wonderful fossils for sale on eBay with many many helpful and honest sellers. In all things eBay you should take the time to ensure that you are getting what you think you are getting. The wise eBay buyer is an informed eBay buyer! With that in mind read on for some hints and tips that should help you in buying fossils on eBay.

The first thing you should do when considering buying fossils on eBay is to spend some time watching the market and studying the types of fossils available and the sellers selling them. Spend a week or two browsing and window shopping for fossils to get a feel for what is available and for individual sellers. Study sellers feedbacks and any information they have in their shop (if they have one) to further this process. Does the seller seem knowledgeable and indeed an expert in their field? Bear in mind that given the enormous breadth of types of fossils out there that the seller may sometimes not actually really know what an individual fossil they are selling is. In other words, don't always take what the seller says a fossil is for granted. Ideally, you as the collector will want to be able to identify fossils for yourself. This is especially necessary in cases where the fossil is commanding a high price - high quality and rare fossils may appreciate in value over time and it is very easy to spend a lot of money on fossils that will never even be worth what was paid for them. This is another reason to study the market for a while before buying. This way you will have a better feel for the prices that are likely to be charged for a particular type of fossil. Hence you will be less likely to buy something that is priced significantly above the norm. When buying a fossil on eBay, set your price and stick to it - if bidding, don't get caught up in a bidding war.

The biggest issue with buying fossils on eBay is being caught by fake fossils. Sadly there are many traders that are only too happy to sell fake fossils either through greed or simply because they themselves don't know that the fossil is a fake. Be especially wary of fossils being sold from China or Morocco, dinosaur eggs being a classic example of the type of fossil that is readily and commonly faked. You should be especially wary when buying from China as the Chinese government has largely banned fossil exporting from China. Chinese fossils are treated as cultural artefacts by the Chinese government and as such require permission to be exported. This permission is not usually given. So when you see a fossil on sale on eBay from China you have to ask yourself is it real? As mentioned, particularly affected by the fakery are things like dinosaur eggs, birds, turtle shells, mammals or even dinosaurs skulls and skeletons . How are they faked? Frequently skulls can be made up of crushed bone powder fragments of real bone and glue or resin. Teeth from dinosaurs can be made up of several partial fossils glued together. Teeth can also be formed from ground up bone and resin as can dinosaur claws or horns. Another tell-tale sign is a complete skeleton arranged in an almost laughably perfect pose, as if the creature had died whilst having its photograph taken! Then it would seem to have been fossilised without the slightest bit of movement or crushing in the hundreds of millions of years that have elapsed. Sometimes entire fossils are made up in a plastic mould, glued to rock and then dusted with rock powder to make them look real. Others can be entirely carved into the matrix (this is the rock that surrounds our fossil and from which it emerges) with varying degrees of skill. Sometimes skulls from modern animals are used and aged to to look like fossils artificially. Dinosaur eggs can be carved from rock.

This all sounds rather depressing but in reality there are many genuine sellers and a genuine fossils to be found on eBay. Don't let the warnings above put you off, eBay can be a fantastic place to find a real bargain or the missing item for your collection. In many cases even fake items can look impressive if used for decoration only - provided you knew what you were buying was fake and it was priced accordingly. In this case it would probably be described as a replica or reproduction.

Good luck with the hunt for fossils for your collection!

Bituminous Coal Utah Cretaceous Low Sulfur One Pound
US $6.99

JURASSIC DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT 3D Cast Ornithopod Lower Jurassic 190 Million Yrs
US $22.32

Gilsonite Asphaltum 200 Mesh Powder One Pound
US $7.99

Russian trilobite Asaphus punctatus LESSNIKOVA 1949
US $69.00

NICE LOT OF KENTUCKY FOSSILS OVER 150
US $24.99

WHITE BAMBOO CORAL FOSSIL SPECIMEN TASMANIA AUSTRALIA
US $13.99

Post from: Fossils For Sale

Fossil Buyers Guide

Related fossils for sale posts:

Fish Fossils Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect....

What are fossils?

Fossils for Sale — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:43:21 +0000

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals and occasionally plants from many millions of years ago. Preserved remains of animals that are older than approximately 10,000 years are usually considered to be fossils, though a more strict interpretation would probably require them to be a few million years old. Fossils are found in layers of sedimentary rock and can vary in size from the very very small (such as fossilised bacteria) to the very large such as the skeletons of large animals including dinosaurs. Usually fossils that are found show only a portion of the individual animal that was fossilised. Normally it is only the hard portions of an animals body that are preserved in this way, for example their bones and teeth. Soft tissues tend not to survive and so it is very rare to find any fossil record of them. It's also possible to find fossilised traces of the animal for example footprints or even fossilised faeces - yes you can even get fossilised dinosaur poo!

So how do fossils actually form? There are a number of different processes and different types of fossilisation possible. As an example consider the fossilisation of a shellfish. When the animal dies it will slowly sink to the bottom of the sea and gradually become covered with sand or silt. The animal's body decomposes or is eaten by scavengers. As time passes the shell gets covered by more and more layers of silt gradually becoming deep and deeper under the sea floor. Over a period of many tens of thousands of years the shell gradually undergoes a series of changes. The chemicals in the shell gradually become replaced by minerals (frequently things like calcite, Iron or silica) coming from water that is passing through the shell and layers of silt. This type of fossilisation is called permineralisation. This carries on over many millions of years until eventually it results in the replacement of all of the shell with the minerals. This leaves the fossil with the shape of the original animals shell but now actually entirely composed of rock. Now we have a fossil buried deep in the rock under the seabed.

So how does it eventually come to be found? Over a period of many millions of years geological changes and movements in the Earth's crust result in what was originally the seabed being pushed up until it is no longer the seabed, but new dry land. More geological changes and the further action of the wind and rain (through a process called erosion) eventually lead to the rock bearing the fossil being exposed leaving the fossil ready to be found. The very last stage in its journey back to the light may be with the help of a geologists hammer!

As previously mentioned there are a number of ways an organism can become fossilised. We have already discussed permineralisation where the original soft tissues are replaced with minerals such as silica calcite or iron pyrite. Other ways organisms can become fossilised include carbonisation, unaltered preservation, recrystallisation and authigenic preservation. In unaltered preservation the organism is preserved as it originally was because it is protected for other effects and decomposition in some way. The classic example of this is an insect that becomes trapped in tree sap which over millions of years turns to Amber, preserving the insect in its entirety. Carbonisation (sometimes also called coalification) results in everything but carbon being removed from the organism. Authigenic preservation refers to fossils of molds or casts of organisms that themselves have entirely decomposed leaving just the cast preserved in the rock. These are fossil equivalents of the worm casts that you often find on a sandy beach. Finally recrystallisation describes the process where crystals form inside the structure of the organism. These crystals eventually replace it entirely - leaving just a crystallised copy.

The different types of mineral that replacing the original organisms structure in permineralisation often result in the final fossil having a distinctive appearance. For example in the case of an ammonite when fossilised these can show considerably different appearances depending on the mineral in question. The ammonites you usually find look like the rock they come from but it is also quite common to find pyritised ammonites which show a lovely golden metallic sheen.

Hopefully this is given you an idea of how fossils come to be and what they are. Have a look through the rest of the website or some of our recommended links to find out much more!