ANTH 1001 Chapter : Nature Of A Fossil
Document Summary
If conditions are favorable, minerals replace substances in bone and fill in porous spaces, converting the bone into rock. Bones and teeth can be destroyed by physical, chemical, biological forces. Fossilization -- protection from forces of destruction (e. g. death near water or in cave). Sources of bias (i. e. , nonrandomness) in fossil record: Earth"s outer shell is subdivided into several major plates and a number of minor plates plates move relative to one another. Movement of plates influences migratory routes, climate, and ecology. North america and europe were connected to one another during paleocene and eocene. Africa was an island continent prior to 19 m. y. a. Explains geographic distributions of apes during the miocene. Madagascar was an island before the emergence of primates. Theory is that lemurs colonized madagascar by crossing the mozambique channel on floating masses of vegetation. Problem issue: colonization of s. america by monkeys.
