Login or Sign Up
Menu
Ask a New Question

Which factor likely contributed most to limiting the number of fossils of land creatures?

Specific conditions must be met for a plant or animal to fossilize. For example, almost no fossil record exists for jellyfish or worms. This is because soft tissues were rarely preserved, but hard tissues, like bones and shells, fossilized much more frequently. Also, while fossils can form in a number of ways, most are formed when a plant or animal dies in a watery environment and is buried in mud and silt.
Plants and water creatures are thus more often fossilized than land creatures.
Most land creatures were almost entirely made up of softer tissues that decayed too quickly to fossilize.
Plants and water creatures fossilized in the most common way, while land creatures fossilized in other ways.
Most land creatures probably died away from watery environments where they would be covered in silt.

Most land creatures probably died away from watery environments where they would be covered in silt.

The factor that likely contributed most to limiting the number of fossils of land creatures is that most land creatures were almost entirely made up of softer tissues that decayed too quickly to fossilize. Unlike plants and water creatures that have hard tissues like bones and shells, the soft tissues of land creatures deteriorate quickly, making it less likely for them to be preserved as fossils. Additionally, most land creatures probably died away from watery environments where they would be covered in mud and silt, which are common conditions for fossil formation.

The factor that likely contributed most to limiting the number of fossils of land creatures is that most land creatures were almost entirely made up of softer tissues that decayed too quickly to fossilize. Fossilization requires specific conditions, and the preservation of soft tissues is much more challenging compared to hard tissues like bones and shells. Since land creatures had a higher proportion of soft tissues, their remains decayed and decomposed more rapidly, making it less likely for them to be preserved as fossils. In contrast, plants and water creatures, which had a higher proportion of hard tissues, were more often fossilized. So, the lack of durable hard tissues in land creatures would have limited their potential for fossilization compared to plants and water creatures.