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This is why fossils are rare. But, surely you know about mummies, yes? Mummification has happened accidentally, including Ötzi. Bodies are found in peat bogs

This is why fossils are rare. But, surely you know about mummies, yes? Mummification has happened accidentally, including Ötzi. Bodies are found in peat bogs which have been there for 2,000 years, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldremose_Woman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldremose_Woman . See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bog_bodies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bog_bodies . And it isn't that the organic material doesn't decay, but that fossilization occurs before substantial decay. The first paragraph in the Lagerstätte page even says: > These formations may have resulted from carcass burial in an anoxic environment with minimal bacteria, thus delaying the decomposition of both gross and fine biological features until long after a durable impression was created in the surrounding matrix. so, no, they weren't "preserved on the surface of a rock", but buried, then fossilized. In the fish image, the upper layer then forms its own layer of stone. In the Green River Formation, the split fish layer can "easily split along the layers to reveal the fossils" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_Formation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_Formation If you don't understand the topic, that's fine. But to reject a description under the guise of skepticism, without honestly engaging in the material, is not.

verisimi 5y ago
Well, apparently mummification has happened accidentally. But have you ever heard about Piltdown Man? I was taught this as fact, when I was at school (and I'm not _that_ old): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man It is now an admitted fake. Why would they fake it? Anyway - it seems that sometimes this research is faked. Is it possible that in 30 years some of those examples are also admitted as fakes? (you can also look into: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars) I actually think it is possible for a body to be buried in a bog, and perhaps be in reasonable condition after 100s of years. Do you think an egg would last though? For 1000 years (as per another commentor), until it fossilises? And then not be assimilated into the rock that it is surrounded by? And then be found? And then be cracked open to reveal the skeleton inside? Can I get some odds on that please!!
- BrazzVuvuzela 5y ago
  If a body, then why not an egg?
  - verisimi 5y ago
    Did you see those bodies? Did they look deformed or not? Compressed, leathery? Would you say you can deform an egg without destroying it?
    - eesmith 5y ago
      Humans aren't covered in a hard external shell which has evolved to resist simple crushing. Why must all or even most fossilized eggs be deformed?
- eesmith 5y ago
  Yep, someone 100+ years ago faked the record and therefore we can't trust anything at all ever. No-sir-ee Bob! The Young Earth Creationists are right, and I'll use the Bible as my sole source of truth. /s Here's 2,500 year old eggs from a tomb. https://www.archaeology.org/news/7502-190327-china-ancient-eggs https://www.archaeology.org/news/7502-190327-china-ancient-e... . Here's 500 year old eggs from another tomb. https://en.dahe.cn/2019/12-12/567243.html https://en.dahe.cn/2019/12-12/567243.html > And then be cracked open It was not cracked open. Strawman exaggeration for effect is how rhetoric got a bad name. > Can I get some odds on that please Yes, it's low. Shall I pull a number out of my ass and say 1 in a trillion? Now, can I get an estimate on the number of eggs laid in a 100 million year period? I'll pull another number of my ass and say a population of 10 billion egg-laying creatures, living 10 years, with 10% of eggs making it to adulthood. That's 10 billion eggs per year, I think. Times 100 million years = 1 quintillion eggs that might be fossilized. Times 1 in a trillion gives 1 million fossilized eggs. Of which only a small fraction are found. So your problem with the odds are ... what exactly? That you're not used to thinking about rare events across geologic time?

verisimi 5y ago

Well, apparently mummification has happened accidentally. But have you ever heard about Piltdown Man? I was taught this as fact, when I was at school (and I'm not _that_ old): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man It is now an admitted fake. Why would they fake it? Anyway - it seems that sometimes this research is faked. Is it possible that in 30 years some of those examples are also admitted as fakes? (you can also look into: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars) I actually think it is possible for a body to be buried in a bog, and perhaps be in reasonable condition after 100s of years. Do you think an egg would last though? For 1000 years (as per another commentor), until it fossilises? And then not be assimilated into the rock that it is surrounded by? And then be found? And then be cracked open to reveal the skeleton inside? Can I get some odds on that please!!

BrazzVuvuzela 5y ago
If a body, then why not an egg?
- verisimi 5y ago
  Did you see those bodies? Did they look deformed or not? Compressed, leathery? Would you say you can deform an egg without destroying it?
  - eesmith 5y ago
    Humans aren't covered in a hard external shell which has evolved to resist simple crushing. Why must all or even most fossilized eggs be deformed?
eesmith 5y ago
Yep, someone 100+ years ago faked the record and therefore we can't trust anything at all ever. No-sir-ee Bob! The Young Earth Creationists are right, and I'll use the Bible as my sole source of truth. /s Here's 2,500 year old eggs from a tomb. https://www.archaeology.org/news/7502-190327-china-ancient-eggs https://www.archaeology.org/news/7502-190327-china-ancient-e... . Here's 500 year old eggs from another tomb. https://en.dahe.cn/2019/12-12/567243.html https://en.dahe.cn/2019/12-12/567243.html > And then be cracked open It was not cracked open. Strawman exaggeration for effect is how rhetoric got a bad name. > Can I get some odds on that please Yes, it's low. Shall I pull a number out of my ass and say 1 in a trillion? Now, can I get an estimate on the number of eggs laid in a 100 million year period? I'll pull another number of my ass and say a population of 10 billion egg-laying creatures, living 10 years, with 10% of eggs making it to adulthood. That's 10 billion eggs per year, I think. Times 100 million years = 1 quintillion eggs that might be fossilized. Times 1 in a trillion gives 1 million fossilized eggs. Of which only a small fraction are found. So your problem with the odds are ... what exactly? That you're not used to thinking about rare events across geologic time?