a fossil is the main or evidence of a living thing explain y fossils r rarely found igneous/metamorphic rocks?
341779
I will answer first the easy one. The oldest rocks are found in the pacific plate, the ones near the marianes trench, but their age is not 4.6 bya. Because old rocks return inside the earth through subduction zones. \nRefer to rock cycle.\nNew rocks are produce at the MOR (mid-oceanic ridges) and old ones are consumed at the subduction zones.\nThere are no very old rocks in continental crusts because they were weathered and eroded and brought to seas through rivers.\nNow about fossils. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks forms when sediments accumulates and cemented. Like lakes, and seas. Usually these place occur life. For example a leaf fall from a tree and left at the bottom of the river. Sediments pile over the leaf and thus preserved.\nIf lava piled over a life (like a leaf) the life or existence will burn and thus not preserved.\nFor fossil to occur it must be preserved. Its very difficult to preserved something if heat is involved.
1138218
I will have to support Evolution! Let me give you a definition of Evolution!\nBiological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification. This definition encompasses small-scale evolution (changes in gene frequency in a population from one generation to the next) and large-scale evolution (the descent of different species from a common ancestor over many generations).\nDocumentation of ancestor-descendant relationships among organisms also comes from the fields of biogeography, taxonomy, anatomy, embryology and, most recently, genetics — particularly DNA analysis.\nThe fossil record remains first and foremost among the databases that document changes in past life on Earth. Fossils provide the dimension of time to the study of life. Some of the most basic observations about fossils and the rock record were made long before Darwin formulated his theory of “descent with modification.” The fossil record clearly shows changes in life through almost any sequence of sedimentary rock layers. Successive rock layers contain different groups or assemblages of fossil species.\n{We have now more than enough fossils to determine for sure that humans didn’t appear on this planet in the genetic form they are today!\nWE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH EVIDENCE THAT THERE WAS AT LEAST ANOTHER SPECIES WHICH LIVED WITH US!! And I am talking about Neanderthal man who was not our ancestor but a different Human than us!!! (Did God experiment with human species?) We even have proof that at a certain point in time 3 human species shared the planet! (Homo sapiens, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthals)}\nOf course I want comment the stupid argument why all the apes didn’t evolve to humans. Ok I will comment!!\n(We share a recent common ancestor with chimpanzees and gorillas; we have many anatomical, genetic, biochemical, and even behavioral similarities with these African great apes. We are less similar to the Asian apes--orangutans and gibbons--and even less similar to monkeys, because we share common ancestors with these groups in the more distant past. \n! By the way why God decided to create 5 different species of primates and 280 different species of monkeys?)\nAs a conclusion Evolution is not a theory but a proven fact (In scientific terms, "theory" does not mean "guess" or "hunch" as it does in everyday usage. Scientific theories are explanations of natural phenomena built up logically from testable observations and hypotheses. Biological evolution is the best scientific explanation we have for the enormous range of observations about the living world.) Creation is a Hebrew Myth and unfortunately is not a fact but a myth!!!!
738549
Every fossil, every observation in biology points to evolution. There is nothing that goes against it or points to a different way to scientifically explain modern diversity. There is not one fossil or one piece of DNA that does NOT point to evolution. It would be hard NOT to see the concrete evidence, and only those blinded by faith can do this.\n\nEvolution is 100% world-wide accepted fact, including the evolution of man.\n\nThere is ZERO evidence for a higher being causing anything. This is why people who are religious need faith, you can't see or study the actions of a deity, by definition. Evolution has ZERO faith and ALL evidence.\n\nScientists (real ones) have been studying and supporting evolution for over 150 years, and still nothing has pointed to creationism. There is clear links and transitional forms between everything in the fossil record to the Class-Family level, if not Genus-Species level. And this includes humans, which there are several 'missing links' which are well described and studied, people just choose to ignore this. Sure, there are still things we don't know, but that's why science is not stagnent and dead. We learn more every day, that's what happens when you keep an open mind and follow the scientific method.\n\nThere are some areas of evolution in which all of the pieces have not been found in the fossil record, but there is no counter theory that has even ONE piece of evidence that can not easily be explained by evolution.\n\nLet me turn your question around, if Creationism was correct and science could definitively prove Creationism (and thus the existence of God), why would they not? That would be the greatest scientific discovery in the history of the world. No one would pass that up to maintain the 'status quo'. There is no conspiracy to hide creation evidence. Anyone who knows real scientists knows they are glory-mongers first. They love to prove others wrong to enhance their own standing. And if any scientist could prove Creation/God, it would've been done a long time ago.\n\nGo to a museum, take a class in biology, go to reputable sites on the Internet (like AAAS: http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/evolution or http://www.talkorigins.org ) and find out for yourself.
495022
Examining fossils- they tell us a lot about once living things like appearance & behavior. Fossils include everything from dinosaur bones & eggs to worm burrows, fossilized tracks, fossilized poop, etc.\n\nStratigraphy or the laying down of sediments over time. This tells us a lot about when & where water occurred. Ripple marks & dunes created by winds. Escarpments carved by the ocean.\n\nGeochemistry involves looking at different isotopes to tell what things were like once.
174572
We call them remains. They are not fossils until they become fossilized, that is, the original materials become replaced with surrounding minerals. Fossils are basically remains of long gone plants and animals that have turned into rock.
441977
Actually, they have found half and half fossils.  Read this:\n\nFish with legs and lungs\nhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/science/05cnd-fossil.html?ex=1301889600&en=43e5c9ecb1dd0cd6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss\n\nFossil that links modern man with Homo erectus\nhttp://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/03/25/missing.link.ap/index.html\n\nBy the way, to the people that say it's still a "theory".  In the scientific community, a theroy is something that has been backed up by countless experiments, records, discoveries, etc.  It DOES NOT MEAN something that is yet to be proven, that is a called an hypothesis.
617128
I think the fossil record is the most convincing evidence we have for evolution.  Granted, it does have a few holes, but the holes aren't nearly as large as the holes in the Bible.  \n\nAnd as far as the comment made by Stand goes - evolution is such a slow process.  Just because we don't see evolution occurring, doesn't mean it's not going on behind the scenes.  I have heard some arguments that evolution of humans has stopped because we don't have the environmental pressures we used to - we use technology to ensure that "everyone" survives.  This is somewhat ludicrous, however, because this theory comes from the point of view of a person living in a first world country.  What about the billions living in third world countries?  Do they have the advantages of technology?  Also, what about the other forms of selection, such as sexual selection?  Truth be told, there are approximately 4.2 "important" amino acid mutations per generation, and since the technical definition of evolution is 'the change in the gene pool of a population over time', we are definitely still evolving - just not in visible ways.  Yet.
437078
Flatworms (Platyhelminthes) and roundworms (Nematodes) are soft-bodied animals, and therefore they're practically absent from the fossil record, because it takes extraordinary circumstances to produce fossils of these type of organisms. \nA fossilized turbellarian found included in Baltic amber, is 40 million years old (see first reference). \nFossil nematodes are also occasionally found in amber from the Cenozoic, but there are possible possible fossils from the Middle Paleozoic (see second link).\nBut anyway, all the major animal phyla are estimated to have been present after the Cambrian explosion (570 million to 495 million years ago) (see third link).
948721
Evolution is the best explanation we have for how species develop. It is supported by a mountain of evidence and is logical to support until new information modifies or discredits it. Unlike God Theory, which is inviolate, set in stone and supported by nothing more than superstition and delusion, Evolution is fluid and developing.
319576
It's the study of fossils.
376538
Metamorphic rocks are formed when other kinds of rocks are changed by great heat and pressure inside the earth. The word "metamorphic" means changed. Think of metamorphic rocks as recycled rocks. When igneous, sedimentary or even metamorphic rocks get buried deep beneath the surface of the earth, over millions of years the heat and pressure inside the earth change them into something else. Limestone can be changed to marble, sandstone can be changed into quartzite, and shale can be changed to slate. It's just another example of how the earth is constantly changing!\n\n=)
1076632
The likely hood of your ending up as a fossil is extremely rare. In 99.9999+% of cases your body will just decay. Of those .0001 percent that do fossilize only about .0001 percent of those will ever be found. Really the only reason we find any fossils at all is because the earth is so incredibly old.
59372
They aren't "preserved" except in form. They are replaced by minerals, the major exception being calcium carbonate shells of things like oysters and clams (Mollusks), but those are shells and might not be considered "body parts" as they are not the soft tissue. Most fossil bones are replaced with a mineral. Most fossil wood is replaced with minerals, but some actual parts of the wood sometimes remain. Fossil insects imbedded in amber are the real original bug, but probably aren't really a fossil.
862177
.  Animals which have a simple evolutionary history are usually soft bodied, and soft bodies animal do not leave good fossils.  It is easy to find analogs for evolutionary steps toward certain animals, the whale for example,  but finding an clear-cut sequence of fossils is difficult.\n.  But, looking at analogs, consider the weasel, the otter, the seal, the manatee and the whale.  The difference between any two steps in this sequence is fairly small, but the difference from one end to the other seems quite large.\n.  There are enough fossils whose ages may be determined that, studied as a group, studied as a group, they demonstrate an increase in complexity of organisms over time and indicate familial relationships.  Bony headed fishes, known only from fossils, were the ancestors of fish like the coelacanth.  Fishes like the collegian were ancestral to both modern fishes and the fish which pulled themselves up from the water on strong, bony fins.\n.  The horse has some obvious ancestors, but the the fossil record of those ancestor becomes weaker as you go back in time.  The fossil record  between shrew like mammals and those creatures which had some horse like characteristics has big gaps in it..
1016560
Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally "having been dug up") are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. The totality of fossils and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils is called paleontology.\n\n \nFossil fish of the genus KnightiaFossilization is actually a rare occurrence because most components of formerly-living things tend to decompose relatively quickly following death. In order for an organism to be fossilized, the remains normally need to be covered by sediment as soon as possible. However there are exceptions to this, such as if an organism becomes frozen, desiccated, or comes to rest in an anoxic (oxygen-free) environment such as at the bottom of a lake. There are several different types of fossils and fossilization processes.\n\nFossils usually consist of traces of the remains of the organism itself. However, fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as the footprint or feces of a dinosaur or reptile. These types of fossil are called trace fossils (or ichnofossils) as opposed to body fossils. Finally, past life leaves some markers that cannot be seen but can be detected in the form of chemical signals; these are known as chemical fossils or biomarkers.\n\nFossil sites with exceptional preservation are known as Lagerstätten. These formations may have resulted from carcass burial in an anoxic environment with minimal bacteria, thus delaying decomposition. Lagerstätten span geological time from the Cambrian. Examples are the Cambrian Maotianshan shales and Burgess Shale, the Devonian Hunsrück Slates, the Jurassic Solnhofen limestone, and the Carboniferous Mazon Creek localities.\n\nThe oldest known structured fossils are most likely stromatolites. Now understood to be formed by the entrapment of sediment by mucous-like sheets of cyanobacteria[1], the oldest of these formations dates from 3.5 billion years ago. Even older deposits (3.8 billion years old) of heavy carbon that are indicative of even earlier life are currently proposed as the remains of the earliest known life on Earth.
1012443
Igneous.  Not sedimentery because those are made up of worn down other rocks, and not metamorphic because they are rocks that were originially another sort of rock.
1092991
Try a museum of natural science.  You can find all kinds of fossils there.