Paleontology Lab
Parameters
N/N₀ at 10,000 yr: 29.8%
N/N₀ at 50,000 yr: 0.24%
Paleontology Simulation – Fossil Formation & Evolution
Paleontology reconstructs the history of life on Earth by studying fossils—the mineralized remains or traces of ancient organisms preserved in sedimentary rock. This simulation walks through the taphonomic processes that transform a dead organism into a fossil, from burial and permineralization to eventual uplift and discovery. Analyze virtual rock strata, apply index fossil dating, and piece together evolutionary relationships from morphological evidence.
What you can do in this simulation
- Follow an organism through burial, compaction, mineral replacement, and lithification to see how fossils form
- Correlate rock layers across separate outcrops using index fossils and the principle of faunal succession
- Apply radiometric dating to igneous layers bounding fossiliferous sedimentary units to establish absolute ages
- Reconstruct phylogenetic trees by comparing skeletal morphology across fossil specimens from different time periods
- Explore mass extinction horizons and examine how diversity metrics change across stratigraphic boundaries
Concepts covered
taphonomy · permineralization · index fossils · stratigraphy · radiometric dating · phylogenetics
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