Burrow fossil

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a rabbit or a mole dig a hole in the ground and disappear underground? Well, a long, long time ago, there were animals that also dug holes and lived in them. And sometimes, these animals left their homes and never came back.

When these animals left their homes and didn't come back, their homes become empty and eventually get filled with sediment, like dirt or sand. Over a really, really long time, more sediment builds up on top of these homes and presses down on them.

Eventually, the sediment turns into rock and the animals' homes are preserved inside. These preserved homes are called burrow fossils. Scientists study these burrow fossils to learn about the animals that used to live underground and how they lived.