The Childrens Hour Kids Crew and team joined scientists at a secret location to learn more about fossils.

Fossil Facts

-The word fossil comes from a Latin word that means “obtained by digging.”
-Fossils are usually found within sedimentary rock which is made up of sand, mud, and small pieces of rock compressed together.
-The oldest fossil ever found is over three billion years old.
-The fossils of bones, teeth, and shells are called body fossils. Most dinosaur fossils are collections of body fossils.
–Trace fossils are rocks that have preserved evidence of biological activity. For example, a footprint or the imprint of a leaf is a trace fossil. Likewise, coprolite is fossilized poop.

Plants grow in unique ways depending on the conditions of their environment. Plants have been around for millions of years, and have been used by ancient people just as they are today, for food, shelter, tools, medicine, and more! It is more rare for plants to fossilize than for other hard items such as bones. Image Source

Mammals have been around for millions of years, some even walked with the dinosaurs. Mammal fossils have helped us to learn about enviornments, adaptation, and evolution. Some of the most common mammal fossils found in North America include armadillos, bears, wolves mammoths, beavers and more. Image Source

Paleontology

In the show you heard from paleontologists. Paleontology is the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants. A paleontologist is someone who studies the history of life on Earth through fossils. This field of science exists to allow people to understand the deep history of a place. The first paleontologists in North America were enslaved and Indigenous people. They discovered and correctly identified fossils that were millions of years old. For example, Indigenous people guided explorers like Lewis and Clark to sites where fossils can be found, and enslaved Africans recognized fossils including mammoth tusks as they looked similar to the animals they had in Africa. Source

Paleontology is an incredibly useful and important field of science, but some concerns are that paleontologists should always consult with the original inhabitants of the land they are extracting fossils from whenever possible, and make sure they are respecting the culture and the ancestors of the people of that land. There are many paths you can take to becoming a paleontologist, a great way to start is to stay curious, learn as much as you can about science and history, and visit natural history museums in your area. You can choose to study paleontology in college where you will get first hand experience to begin your career. 

George Cuvier holds a fossil. Image Source

Fossils and Oral History

George Cuvier also known as the “Father of Paleontology” gathered many stories about fossils from various tribes across North and South America. He learned, as we know today, that indigenous peoples had a pretty accurate understanding of deep history and major events like mass extinctions and environmental upheavals. They knew this because their own fossil findings matched up with the oral histories passed down through generations by their ancestors who once walked alongside megafauna like mammoths, giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers and giant bison. For example, the Zuni harvest dance uses oral history and agriculture to teach their children about how to mature into young adults and to have respect for their parents along with other values.  They use the gourd plant, which has been used by their ancestors for thousands of years, to create an instrument and it has symbolic value in the dance. The Zuni teach about the origin story of their people using mural art.

During the Ice Age, giant ground sloths roamed the region that is now California. They varied widely in size. Three different types of sloths have been found at the La Brea Tar Pits, one of which is Harlan’s Ground Sloth. Weighing up to 3,000 pounds, it is the largest. These huge mammals lived from nearly 100,000 to 11,000 years ago.