Fossils are the remains of organisms that lived on Earth in the
geologic past.The fossil record ranges from the most primitive,
unicellular life forms of three billion years ago to the highly
sophisticated biota of recent times. Such remains are usually
petrified, but some have remained organic, like plant remains in
lignite and coal, insects in amber or a frozen mammoth in polar
ice. Fossils are the underpinning of our knowledge of past life
and the evolution of species. It is perhaps ironic, but thanks to
petrifaction, selective weathering, and also to the fact that fossils can be cut, polished, and observed in thin section, certain
attributes of an organism can be more readily
observed than would have been possible in a live specimen!
The images in this final chapter reflect Earth's life forms, what
we call the organic. The previous chapters reflect the nonorganic, or the lifeless forms. But if the reader should feel like
turning back the pages (wondering whether he has not already
seen this or that form), he may well question whether this differentiation is really that unambiguous.
LIL1
These menacing tentacles are nothing
but the fossil remains of crinoids, tranquil sea lilies that gently
swayed on the bottom of a Devonian sea, some 400 million
years ago. See also next picture. Actual size 320 x 450 mm.
B e l Crinoids belong to a group of animals,
the Echinoderms, which also include starfish and sea urchins.
Contrary to their appearance and the nickname 'sea lilies',
crinoids are animals and not plants. Crinoids have lived in shallow seas since the very ancient geologic past and they still exist
today. They have a long, thin stem attached to the seafloor,
topped with a flower-shaped body that bears feathery petals.
The slab of limestone on which these fossil remains stand out
so strikingly, comes from Devonian beds in Morocco. Actual
size 600 x 750 mm.
F N This lively cross section of the stalk of a fossil fern
appeared on the face of a small pebble that was picked up on a
beach in Tasmania and run through a tumbler. Actual width 30
mm.
LE 10
Lepidodendron belongs to the
Lycopsids, a class of plants that made up a large part of the lush
vegetation in the extensive swamps of the Carboniferous era.
The Lower Carboniferous is the more than ± 350 million year
o
144
old geological period that accounts for most of the coal
reserves on earth. This plate shows a fossil imprint of the diamond shaped pattern that is typical for the bark along the
upper section of the trunk. These plants could achieve gigantic
size, 30 to 40 meters and thus were larger than many trees.
Descendents of the Lycopsids are still living today, but how
heartrending to realize that it is only in the form of dwarflike
mosses. Actual width I 10 mm.
PET
D Petrifaction, and later leaching, has
accentuated the wood-texture much more dramatically than
could have been seen in the live wood. Actual size 120 x 150
mm.
TRI OBIT STriiobites belong to an illustrious class of very
old, extinct organisms, that lived from the early Cambrian, over
500 million years ago, well into the Permian period, some 250
million years ago. They were hard shelled, bottom-dwelling sea
organisms, with some 15 000 species known today, ranging in
size from 5 to 500 mm. With their tripartite, segmented bodies
they belong to the phylum ofArthropods (same as spiders) and
they were the first organisms on Earth outfitted with eyes.
Fossils of trilobites are abundant and popular with collectors.
The species here shown, measuring ± 25 mm., is Proetus
Bohemicus from Devonian deposits in Morocco.
L
OA
Although it looks as if these
fossilized fish are performing an elegant water dance or a game
of tag, it is more probable that they were in agony of death,
struck by whatever calamity led to their sudden perishing. The
species on this slab, hardly the size of sardines, are called
Knightia and come from a well known fossil-hunting site in
Wyoming, USA.
AM
IT
ON Ammonites are cuttle
fish with snail-like shells that lived it up in the Jurassic and
Cretaceous seas, some 200 to 100 million years ago. The name
relates to the ancient Sun God 'Ammon Re' and to the holy
'Ammons Horn' of the ram. Fossil ammonites are found in
abundance in Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments allover the
world, and have always been associated with fables and superstition. Actually proof exists that they were already used as talisman in the Stone Age. The many types varied in size from a
few millimeters across to over one meter.
geologic past.The fossil record ranges from the most primitive,
unicellular life forms of three billion years ago to the highly
sophisticated biota of recent times. Such remains are usually
petrified, but some have remained organic, like plant remains in
lignite and coal, insects in amber or a frozen mammoth in polar
ice. Fossils are the underpinning of our knowledge of past life
and the evolution of species. It is perhaps ironic, but thanks to
petrifaction, selective weathering, and also to the fact that fossils can be cut, polished, and observed in thin section, certain
attributes of an organism can be more readily
observed than would have been possible in a live specimen!
The images in this final chapter reflect Earth's life forms, what
we call the organic. The previous chapters reflect the nonorganic, or the lifeless forms. But if the reader should feel like
turning back the pages (wondering whether he has not already
seen this or that form), he may well question whether this differentiation is really that unambiguous.
LIL1
These menacing tentacles are nothing
but the fossil remains of crinoids, tranquil sea lilies that gently
swayed on the bottom of a Devonian sea, some 400 million
years ago. See also next picture. Actual size 320 x 450 mm.
B e l Crinoids belong to a group of animals,
the Echinoderms, which also include starfish and sea urchins.
Contrary to their appearance and the nickname 'sea lilies',
crinoids are animals and not plants. Crinoids have lived in shallow seas since the very ancient geologic past and they still exist
today. They have a long, thin stem attached to the seafloor,
topped with a flower-shaped body that bears feathery petals.
The slab of limestone on which these fossil remains stand out
so strikingly, comes from Devonian beds in Morocco. Actual
size 600 x 750 mm.
F N This lively cross section of the stalk of a fossil fern
appeared on the face of a small pebble that was picked up on a
beach in Tasmania and run through a tumbler. Actual width 30
mm.
LE 10
Lepidodendron belongs to the
Lycopsids, a class of plants that made up a large part of the lush
vegetation in the extensive swamps of the Carboniferous era.
The Lower Carboniferous is the more than ± 350 million year
o
144
old geological period that accounts for most of the coal
reserves on earth. This plate shows a fossil imprint of the diamond shaped pattern that is typical for the bark along the
upper section of the trunk. These plants could achieve gigantic
size, 30 to 40 meters and thus were larger than many trees.
Descendents of the Lycopsids are still living today, but how
heartrending to realize that it is only in the form of dwarflike
mosses. Actual width I 10 mm.
PET
D Petrifaction, and later leaching, has
accentuated the wood-texture much more dramatically than
could have been seen in the live wood. Actual size 120 x 150
mm.
TRI OBIT STriiobites belong to an illustrious class of very
old, extinct organisms, that lived from the early Cambrian, over
500 million years ago, well into the Permian period, some 250
million years ago. They were hard shelled, bottom-dwelling sea
organisms, with some 15 000 species known today, ranging in
size from 5 to 500 mm. With their tripartite, segmented bodies
they belong to the phylum ofArthropods (same as spiders) and
they were the first organisms on Earth outfitted with eyes.
Fossils of trilobites are abundant and popular with collectors.
The species here shown, measuring ± 25 mm., is Proetus
Bohemicus from Devonian deposits in Morocco.
L
OA
Although it looks as if these
fossilized fish are performing an elegant water dance or a game
of tag, it is more probable that they were in agony of death,
struck by whatever calamity led to their sudden perishing. The
species on this slab, hardly the size of sardines, are called
Knightia and come from a well known fossil-hunting site in
Wyoming, USA.
AM
IT
ON Ammonites are cuttle
fish with snail-like shells that lived it up in the Jurassic and
Cretaceous seas, some 200 to 100 million years ago. The name
relates to the ancient Sun God 'Ammon Re' and to the holy
'Ammons Horn' of the ram. Fossil ammonites are found in
abundance in Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments allover the
world, and have always been associated with fables and superstition. Actually proof exists that they were already used as talisman in the Stone Age. The many types varied in size from a
few millimeters across to over one meter.