However, the minerals replace the original organic material, as the organic material rots away. In the end, the organism is replaced by minerals. Many fossils are preserved these ways, from Fossil Sharks Teeth, to Trilobites, to Bone.
http://www.fossilguy.com/what-is-a-fossil/index.htm
Almost no fossil record exists for soft organisms such as jellyfish and worms. 1  Dinosaur Track. [ more 2  ] Raptor Dinosaur Egg Fossils. [ more 3  ] Copralite - Dinosaur Dung. [ more 4  ] Dinosaur swimming tracks. [ more 5  ] A spider entombed in amber. [ more ]
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Sediments have to accumulate over the organism in order to preserve it. This could be a rapid burial, such as a volcanic eruption or mudslide, it could be sap from a tree oozing over an insect, or simply a slow sediment accumulation on the bottom of a lake. Most fossils are marine in origin, or are land animals that fell into a water environment.
http://www.fossilguy.com/what-is-a-fossil/index.htm
Researchers suspect it initially fossilized whole, but when it was found in 2011, only the front half, from the snout to the hips, was intact enough to recover. The specimen is the best fossil of a nodosaur ever found.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/
Volcanic eruptions can form fossils when animals get trapped in the hot ash flows. In this case, the fossil is a hole in the shape of the animal. By far the most common fossil remains are those of shelled invertebrate sea loving creatures such as snails, corrals, and clams. These make up most of the fossil record. Plants can leave fossils. In fact coal is the fossil record of whole forests; however, individual plant structures usually do not survive as the plant materials are compressed to less than one hundredth of their original size. Fossils of land animals are scarcer than those of plants.
http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/fossilformation.html
A fossil is the preserved remains or trace of a plant or animal from the past. That's the simple answer to what is a fossil? Plants can be preserved with a carbon film on a piece of shale, an animal bone can be naturally replaced by minerals and preserved, or a footprint in the sand can harden into a fossil.
http://www.fossilguy.com/what-is-a-fossil/index.htm
It takes a unique set of circumstances to preserve a fossil and then to re-expose it for us to find. Each fossil is a miracle. Fortunately, since there have been so many countless life forms over countless years, fossils are more common than you think.
http://www.fossilguy.com/what-is-a-fossil/index.htm
Fossil Formation | Geologic Time | Dinosaur Facts | Johnson Farm Tracks | Swimming Tracks | Dinosaur Eggs | Glossary. The Formation of Fossils Fossils are the record of life preserved in monuments of stone. Almost all living organisms can leave fossils, but usually only the hard parts of plants and animals fossilize.
http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/fossilformation.html
Fossils are formed in a number of different ways, but most are formed when a plant or animal dies in a watery environment and is buried in mud and silt. Soft tissues quickly decompose leaving the hard bones or shells behind. Over time sediment builds over the top and hardens into rock.
http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/fossilformation.html
The 110 million-year-old fossil of a nodosaur preserves the animal’s armor, skin, and what may have been its final meal. The 110 million-year-old fossil of a nodosaur preserves the animal’s armor, skin, and what may have been its final meal.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/
which material preserves a whole plant or animal as a fossil?
Plants can be preserved with a carbon film on a piece of shale, an animal bone can be naturally replaced by minerals and preserved, or a footprint in the sand can harden into a fossil. A carbon film preserves a whole plant or animal as a fossil.