Beecher's Trilobite type preservation
Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a fossil? It's like a really old rock that has the shape of an animal or plant that lived a long long time ago. Well, there is a special kind of fossil called a trilobite and this kind of fossil is really cool because it looks just like the trilobite did when it was alive.
But how can a rock look like a bug you ask? Well, let me tell you about Beecher's trilobite type preservation. Mr. Beecher was a scientist who studied fossils and found a way to make trilobites look almost exactly like they did when they were alive.
When an animal dies, its body decays and disappears. But sometimes the body gets covered up really quickly by mud or sand, and that stops the decay from happening. Then over time, the mud or sand turns into rock, and the animal's shape is left behind in the rock.
Now when it comes to trilobites, their bodies were covered in a hard shell that was made of a special material called calcite. Usually, when an animal's body decays, the shell goes away too. But with Beecher's trilobite type preservation, the shell gets saved in the rock.
This happens because the mud or sand that covers the trilobite has lots of minerals in it that get inside the trilobite's shell. Those minerals slowly replace the calcite, making the shell turn into rock but still keeping its shape. So when you look at this kind of fossil, it looks like the trilobite is still alive and kicking!
Isn't that amazing, kiddo? Thanks for listening to my explanation.
But how can a rock look like a bug you ask? Well, let me tell you about Beecher's trilobite type preservation. Mr. Beecher was a scientist who studied fossils and found a way to make trilobites look almost exactly like they did when they were alive.
When an animal dies, its body decays and disappears. But sometimes the body gets covered up really quickly by mud or sand, and that stops the decay from happening. Then over time, the mud or sand turns into rock, and the animal's shape is left behind in the rock.
Now when it comes to trilobites, their bodies were covered in a hard shell that was made of a special material called calcite. Usually, when an animal's body decays, the shell goes away too. But with Beecher's trilobite type preservation, the shell gets saved in the rock.
This happens because the mud or sand that covers the trilobite has lots of minerals in it that get inside the trilobite's shell. Those minerals slowly replace the calcite, making the shell turn into rock but still keeping its shape. So when you look at this kind of fossil, it looks like the trilobite is still alive and kicking!
Isn't that amazing, kiddo? Thanks for listening to my explanation.