fossil record

Cultural  

1. A term used by paleontologists (see paleontology) to refer to the total number of fossils that have been discovered, as well as to the information derived from them. (See evolution of Earth.)

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Example Sentences

Like many other Ediacaran organisms, they vanished from the fossil record at the start of the Cambrian period roughly 540 million years ago.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

Using a technique known as Approximate Bayesian Computation, the researchers worked backward from the fossil record to estimate how far organisms spread and how intensely they competed for resources.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

The oldest skin bones in the fossil record may date back 475 million years.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

Finding them in rocks this old would have pushed back the fossil record for these organisms significantly.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

The fossil record speaks to us unambiguously of creatures that once were present in enormous numbers and that have now vanished utterly.'

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan