Image: Wikimedia Commons

fossil

Preserved remains or traces of organisms from a past geological age

EntityQ40614

Also known as zoolite · fossils · fossil find

Subclass of: natural physical object

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A fossil is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth, and it can fill gaps in our understanding of the sequence of evolution on earth.

Overview

All data

97 statements · 15% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: fossil taxon
archaeological find
pseudofossil
Cause: fossilization
Main Wikidata property: fossil found in this unit
Studied by: paleontology
palaeoxylology
Fabrication method: fossilization
Permanent duplicated item: Q55744002
Has part(s) of the class: fossil record

On other databases

79 identifiers linking fossil across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

15%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 6, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). fossil (Q40614). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/fossil-Q40614