2 ms·
it still blows my mind that fossilized bones can remain intact for tens of millions of years. I know it's mostly minerals at that point. Still, it blows my mind
by abraxas 4y ago
it still blows my mind that fossilized bones can remain intact for tens of millions of years. I know it's mostly minerals at that point. Still, it blows my mind that anything is able to retain its shape over tens of millions of years.
- est31 4y agoIt is a highly unlikely process that is the result of a chain of events, not just at the "creation" end but also at the "discovery" end: that the bones are close enough to the surface to be detected, but haven't been eroded away yet. The fossils we have are from hundreds of millions of years, we only got to get the most common species which lived in the places that were good for fossilization, the fraction of a fraction of all animals that lived. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-are-fossils-formed.html https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-are-fossils-formed.html
- brailsafe 4y agoAre unfossilized bones themselves not mostly minerals as well?