fossil
fossil
1. Generally anything ancient, especially if it is discovered buried below ground (e.g. fossil fuel, fossil soil). In its original sense ‘fossil’ meant anything dug up from the earth, including ores, precious stones, etc.
2. In the modern sense, which dates from the late seventeenth century, the remains of a once-living organism, generally one that lived prior to the last glacial period, i.e. fossils are older than 10 000 years. They include skeletons, tracks, impressions, trails, borings, and casts. Fossils are usually found in hard rock, but not always: for example, small plants or parts (e.g. leaves and flowers) have been found preserved in amber of Tertiary age and woolly mammoths living 20 000 years ago were recovered from the frozen tundra of Siberia.
1. Generally anything ancient, especially if it is discovered buried below ground (e.g. fossil fuel, fossil soil). In its original sense ‘fossil’ meant anything dug up from the earth, including ores, precious stones, etc.
2. In the modern sense, which dates from the late seventeenth century, the remains of a once-living organism, generally one that lived prior to the last glacial period, i.e. fossils are older than 10 000 years. They include skeletons, tracks, impressions, trails, borings, and casts. Fossils are usually found in hard rock, but not always: for example, small plants or parts (e.g. leaves and flowers) have been found preserved in amber of Tertiary age and woolly mammoths living 20 000 years ago were recovered from the frozen tundra of Siberia.
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fossil