Question

Read the following statements and justify the same in your own words with the help of suitable examples.

The study of fossils is an important aspect of the study of evolution.

Answer 1

Fossils are the remains of organisms that once existed on Earth. They represent the ancestors of plants and animals, which are alive even today. Fossils provide evidence of evolution by revealing the characteristics of the past organisms, and the changes that have occurred in these organisms to give rise to a present organism. Fossils have the same shape as that of the original animal, but their colour and texture may vary widely. The colour of a fossil depends upon the type of minerals that form it. For example, the fossil of a bone will not have some constituents of the bone in it. It has the same shape as the bone, but it is chemically more like a rock.
Importance of Fossils:
(i) They inform us about the types of living things that existed in the past.
(ii) They inform us about the extent to which living things have changed over time.
(iii) The most recent fossil is found in a rock nearest to the earth's surface. Therefore, they inform us about the time when a particular life form existed.