DinoFact
Dinosaur Fossils and Discovery
How dinosaur fossils form, how palaeontologists find them, and what they reveal about life long ago.
- Fossil poop is called a coprolite.
- A famous T. rex fossil is nicknamed Sue.
- Wind and rain can slowly uncover fossils.
- Fossils are often found in layers of rock.
- Footprint fossils are called trace fossils.
- Coprolites can tell us what a dinosaur ate.
- Fossils can take years to dig up and clean.
- Old bones turned to stone are called fossils.
- A fossil can take a team of people to dig up.
- A bonebed is a place packed with many fossils.
- Some fossils show skin and even feather shapes.
- Did you know dinosaur poop can become a fossil?
- A good fossil can take months or years to prepare.
- Each fossil adds a new page to the dinosaur story.
- Big fossils are sometimes lifted out by helicopter.
- China is famous for fossils of feathered dinosaurs.
- Mongolia's Gobi Desert is full of dinosaur fossils.
- Most fossils form when an animal is buried quickly.
- Dinosaur fossils have been found all over the world.
- It can take thousands of years for a fossil to form.
- Fossil hunters sometimes find dinosaurs by accident.
- Most animals never become fossils — it is quite rare.
- Palaeontologists use brushes to gently clean fossils.
- Sometimes fossils appear after storms wash away rock.
- A sudden burial helped many dinosaurs become fossils.
- Some dinosaur footprints have turned into fossils too.
- Tiny tools and even toothbrushes help dig out fossils.
- Fossils help us imagine worlds that vanished long ago.
- Fossils are wrapped in plaster jackets to protect them.
- Dinosaur fossils have been found in the United Kingdom.
- Cold, dry places often make good spots to find fossils.
- Each new fossil can rewrite part of the dinosaur story.
- Fossils sometimes show healed injuries from old fights.
- Museums often show dinosaur skeletons put back together.
- Many dinosaur fossils are found in deserts and badlands.
- A fossil can be just a single tooth or a whole skeleton.
- Somewhere, a new dinosaur fossil is waiting to be found.
- Dinosaur fossils have been found on all seven continents.
- There are dinosaur fossils on display on every continent.
- Some museums let you watch scientists clean real fossils.
- Volcanic ash has preserved some amazing dinosaur fossils.
- Sue the T.rex is displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago.
- Tiny fossils of skin and feathers are very precious finds.
- Every fossil is a clue to a lost chapter of Earth's story.
- The fossil 'Big Al' is a famous nearly complete Allosaurus.
- Radiometric dating of rocks helps determine a fossil's age.
- Scientists who study dinosaurs are called palaeontologists.
- Scientists use rock layers to work out how old a fossil is.
- Some dinosaurs were named from fossils found in coal mines.
- Scientists slice fossil bones to count yearly growth rings.
- Many early dinosaur skeletons were reconstructed incorrectly.
- Some hadrosaur fossils preserve patterns of polygonal scales.
- A girl named Mary Anning became a famous early fossil hunter.
- Museums keep many fossils safe in their back rooms for study.
- Mud and sand can help protect bones long enough to fossilise.
- A dinosaur skeleton in a museum may include some model bones.
- The Stegosaurus is the state dinosaur (or fossil) of Colorado.
- Some dinosaur skeletons in museums are copies, not real bones.
- A famous fossil shows Velociraptor and Protoceratops fighting.
- Some dinosaur skin patterns are known from fossil impressions.