What is the term for the preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past?
detritis
corals
bones
fossils
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past. The soft parts of organisms almost always decompose quickly after death. On occasion, the hard parts—mainly bones, teeth, or shells—remain long enough to mineralize and form fossils. An example of a complete fossil skeleton is shown in Figure below . The fossil record is the record of life that unfolded over four billion years and pieced back together through the analysis of fossils.