Fossils: Window to the past

Fossils are not just a bunch of bones that make up an old dinosaur model. Fossils are the remains of an ancient organism or the traces of activity of such an organism. There are two types of fossils: body fossils and trace fossils. Body fossils include preserved remains of an organism (i.e. freezing, drying, petrification, permineralization, bacteria and algea). Trace fossils are the indirect signs of life that give evidence of the organism's presence (i.e. footprints, burrows, trails & other evidence of life processes).