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

"The protein remnant finding is exceptional," Mooney said, "it dramatically pushes our understanding of what is possible in terms of soft tissue preservation in the fossil record."

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

"Knowing more about what existed gives us a sense of how big the fossil record is and how species change through time. And understanding the complexities of an ecosystem is important."

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

"Most often, this type of fossil would be lost to the fossil record," Xiao said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

By examining the fossil record, the researchers found that sponge spicules become more mineralized over time.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

We know from the fossil record that the origin of life happened soon after, perhaps around 4.0 billion years ago, in the ponds and oceans of the primitive Earth.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan