Fossil Evidence Quiz

How do fossils provide evidence of the history of the Earth?

• Fossils preserve a record of prehistoric plants and animals.

• Fossils provide records about the Earth's history starting with the first museum.

• Fossils show scientists that Earth was exactly the same in the past as it is today.

• Fossils suggest that dinosaurs lived only on hidden islands away from modern humans.

A group of scientists recently determined that an area which is currently under water was once dry land. What may have led scientists to this conclusion?

• finding no fossils of sea creatures in the area

• finding fossils of land-dwelling plants in the area

• finding fossils of land-dwelling animals in the area

• all of these

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The fossil above looks much like modern day fish. Which of the following environments did this organism most likely live in?

• a body of water

• a cold, snowy mountain

• a hot, dry desert

• a tropical rainforest

Directions: Drag each rock layer to the correct location in the diagram. A location that was covered in ocean water gradually became dry land over time. Three rock layers from the location are shown below. Put each rock layer in the correct position.

In which of the following present day locations could the fossils of a dinosaur that lived in water be found?

• under a lake

• near a mountain

• in a canyon

• all of these

There is a fossil of a fish. What kind of ecosystem did this animal probably live in?

• a snowy mountaintop

• desert soil

• a freshwater lake

• tropical treetops

There is a tooth fossil from a shark. That shark is known to have lived only in the ocean. What would it likely mean if the shark tooth fossil had been found in the Rocky Mountains?

• that the rocks in the mountains had once been under water

• that the ocean used to be a desert

• that the wind had blown the fossil into the mountains

• that the Rocky Mountain area used to be a desert

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Plants lived on Earth millions of years ago. How is this known?

• They can be seen in photos that were taken long ago.

• Some of the plants were preserved as fossils.

• Everything alive today has been alive since the beginning of time.

• Stories about them have been passed down from parent to child.

Why might a paleontologist think that the dinosaur in the photo lived on land?

• Its fossils were found in a rock layer on the bottom of the ocean.

• It has body structures that are similar to living animals that are found on land.

• Its fossils were found in the same rock layer as a kind of fish.

• It has body structures that are similar to living animals that are found in the ocean.