How are fossils formed

How are fossils formed? Professor Loren E. Babcock examines the key processes of fossilization in paleontology, highlighting the critical role of rapid burial in preserving organic remains from quick decomposition. How do fossils form? This is the most fundamental question in paleontology. Originally, ‘fossil’ referred to anything dug from the Earth. Colloquially, ‘fossil’ can refer to something that is old or antiquated. Research in taphonomy, the processes of fossilization, is yielding surprising results that challenge longstanding assumptions about fossils and the multiple pathways to fossilization. (1–9) The common perception that organic remains fossilize after millions of years as sedimentary layers slowly change to rock now seems largely untenable.