Often, people ask, how do fossils form? When an organism dies, its remains decompose and disintegrate rapidly under the action of bacteria, or other animals, the wind, rain, or waves from the sea.

But if that body, or cadaver, is buried quickly enough by sediment and is therefore protected from the currents of biological agents or mechanical agents, then the possibility of it fossilizing grows a lot. Obviously it is much easier for hard parts of the body such as bones to fossilize than four softer parts like the muscles and ligaments, which also buried are still exposed to the action of bacteria. Everything depends on how tightly sealed the body is from its surroundings. In some exceptional cases, even these softest parts of the organisms are conserved, and some insects have been found exquisitely preserved in amber. This substance called amber is a fossil resin from trees.

Apart from these very unusual exceptions, the process of fossilize they shun begins off to the softer parts of the body and the filling of the bones has disappeared and been replaced by the surrounding the sediment. At this time a number of chemical transformations begin to manifest themselves which bit by bit substitute the organic composition of the remaining body parts with minerals.

This transformation depends on the chemical composition of the bone, and also on the chemical composition of the sediment. This combination is favorable, substitution takes place molecule by molecule, over a very long period of time until the organism is completely mineralized, that is to say, converted into a rock.

If because of erosion, or human interference, the rock which contains the fossil is left uncovered on the surface, it will be subjected to erosive processes and will be destroyed in a relatively short time. Therefore, fossils are really quite rare and not only a nice looking rock to put on display, but also a source of information on past life. A fossil is a natural jewel of nature.

In the modern day, fossils can now be seen by the public in many museums across the world, and are studied by hundreds of scientists everyday.