Fossil Stingray from the Green River formation of Wyoming NATURAL TREASURES  

              FOSSILS      

Fossils are the remains or traces of animals or plants which have been preserved by natural causes in the earth's crust, excluding organisms which have been buried since the beginning of historic time.  Fossils are windows which serve as insights into nature's past.

Fossils have been known to people for many centuries.  Fossil shells used for the purpose of adornment have been discovered at Paleolithic sites.  During times of Ancient Greece, writers such as Herodotus and Xenophanes correctly identified relics of ancient organisms in rock.  However, the ideas of Aristotle caused fossils to be regarded merely as freaks of nature formed spontaneously be some plastic forces present in the primordial mud.  Aristotle's idea lasted until the Middle Ages when such enlightened minds as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Gerlamo Fracastoro (1480-1533) and Bernard Palissy (1510-1590) recognized the true nature of fossils as organisms that had lived in the distant past, and their relation to their living counterparts.

The Cenozoic Era, meaning recent life, was the time when many forms of mammals thrived after the disappearance of the dominant dinosaur.  Cenozoic Era Fossils

Meaning "new life", this time period has come to be associated with the rise of the mammals after the disappearance of the dinosaurs.  It is the era in which we currently reside.  It began 65 million years ago with closing of the Mesozoic Era.  The Cenozoic is divided into two Periods, the Tertiary Period and the Quaternary Period.  You can see fossil fish, fossil leaves and wood, fossil insects  fossil mammals, fossil shark teeth, whale bones, and fossil barnacles from this era.

Dinosaurs were the famous rulers of the Mesozoic Era but many other interesting life forms existed Mesozoic Era Fossils

Meaning "middle life", this time period is well-known for its fossil record showing the domination by dinosaurs.  In fact, many life forms flourished during this time, such as the ammonites, marine reptiles, and terrestrial plants and trees.  It began with the close of the Paleozoic Era 240 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago with the famous mass extinction that included the ammonites and the dinosaurs.

Trilobites were some of the first complex life forms to appear at the beginning of the Paleozoic Era Paleozoic Era Fossils

Meaning "old life", it was during this time period that the great blossoming of complex life began.  The Cambrian Period, oldest member of the Paleozoic which began 570 million years ago, saw the appearance of many highly organized invertebrate fossil animals such as Trilobites, Nautilus, Brachiopods, Ammonites, and Ferns.  Prior to this, the Pre-Cambrian produced only simple, single-cell plants such as algae.  The Paleozoic ended with a mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period 240 million years ago.

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