Fossil remains are produced through a mineralization process.
Fossil remains are those belonging to organisms that, through a mineralization process, have become rocks . These changes in their structure make it possible for them to persist over time.
It should be noted that the term remainder refers to what remains or is left over from a whole. A fossil , for its part, is an organic substance that presents a certain degree of petrification and that can be found in the layers of the Earth. Fossil is also the vestige that reveals the existence of beings that are not part of the geological present.
For example: “Paleontologists found new fossil remains at the base of Cerro Carmón” , “When I was a boy, I could spend hours looking at the fossil remains exhibited in the museum of my city” , “The analysis of the fossil remains allowed the specialists determine that this species was herbivorous.”
What are fossil remains?
It can be said, in short, that fossil remains are living organisms that have been petrified by the action of the minerals with which they were in contact. The action of these minerals causes certain components of the body to be replaced and the external appearance is maintained.
The physical and chemical process that allows the development of fossil remains is called fossilization , and this involves different transformations in the structure and composition of the remains of the living being and requires time to develop. It should be noted that it is common for the remains of a living being to decompose shortly after death, which is why fossilization and the production of fossil remains are rare.
Fossil remains are usually exhibited in museums.
The discovery
To find fossil remains there are two well-defined paths: on the one hand, it is possible to find them by chance while carrying out construction work or an expedition, among other cases, without intention or technical knowledge; The most common, however, is through an archaeological excavation .
This last procedure consists of acting on a certain terrain with the defined objective of finding remains, whether fossils or items created by man, such as utensils from an ancient civilization.
Fossil remains in fiction
As with other elements of nature, the fascination that fossil remains cause in people exceeds the limits of the scientific community, and this is largely due to their inclusion in literature, cinema and video games .
One of the most notable examples is the novel "Jurassic Park" , published by Michael Crichton in 1990 , which reviews animal exploitation and trade in the field of genetic engineering , specifically when a billionaire tycoon commissions the construction of a theme park. on a paradise island to give rise to an experiment that consists of reviving dinosaurs from the fossil remains of a mosquito covered in amber.
This book, in turn, was brought to the big screen by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg , who captivated the entire world three years later with his film of the same name. Seeing such an impressive reproduction of dinosaurs in motion creates an impact that is very difficult to resist; In fact, many paleontologists who were children when "Jurassic Park" was released attribute much of their interest in the subject to it.
In video games, the possibilities of bringing the world of dinosaurs closer to consumers are even greater, thanks to the interaction that characterizes them. In the "Animal Crossing" series (its title has not been translated into Spanish, but is marketed intact in Spanish-speaking countries), developed and published by the Japanese company Nintendo for several of its platforms, the player has the particular ability to easily find and unearth a large number of dinosaur fossil remains, ranging from eggs to skeletons of large beasts, such as Tyrannosaurus rex .