Why do people study fossils?
Fossils are links to the past–the tangible remains of living organisms on the planet. From this wealth of historic data, paleontologists both draw conclusions about the past and make predictions about the future.Understanding EvolutionFossils can help reveal how a species evolved over eons. Finding different fossils of a similar type of clam, for instance, can illuminate how the species changed from one geological period to another.Reconstructing Geological PeriodsBy finding fossils from plants and animals that coexisted, paleontologists can construct more complete portraits of what the planet was like in particular geological periods. They can use this information in all sorts of ways, such as creating more realistic exhibits in natural history museums.Dating RocksAs paleontologists study older and older rock layers, they find more ancient types of fossils. For instance, fossils of ferns appear in much older rocks than fossils of flowering plants do. According to the U.S. Geological
