Fossil Shark Teeth, Snails, Clams Pictures

The prehistoric great white shark had a mouth so large it could swallow a whale in this generation time.

FOSSILS are the remains of plants or animals that lived in the early times of the earth. Some fossils will be a whole animal preserved in ice, bones or tooth hardened by minerals, insects encased in amber and plants found on sand stone or other rocks.

Main kinds of fossils: Petrified fossils, molds and casts, prints, whole animals and plants.

Petrified fossils are plant and or animal remains that have turned to stone.

Molds and casts are the living things that became buried in mud, clay or other material that hardened around them. The bodies decayed away leaving their bones as imprints.

Prints are molds of thin objects on stone such as leaves, feathers, and or foot prints from extinct animals from long ago.

Whole animals and plants are rarely preserved. Most fossils are those of shells, teeth, bones, leaves and other hard parts. Flesh is decayed to quickly to be preserved.

Collecting fossils is fun and educational. It is amazing to know you are holding in your hand the remains of a plant or animal that was once living thousands of years ago.

You could find a fossil shark tooth buried in the sand at the oceans seashore. People have found small shark teeth in the springs at Rock Springs Fl. I found a rock with a leaf and stick formations on one side of the rock at the Rivana river shoreline in Palmyra Va.

Taking a picture of your finds with a digital camera is a wonderful idea. You can keep record on the computer with the picture and description.

There are books on fossils to help with descriptions and information on your find.

You can view fossils at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. There you will find a large variety of dinosaur bones and other extinct prehistoric creatures. They also have displays of Shark teeth and other marine creatures. There are many interesting things to view at the Smithsonian Institute.