To find fossils, paleontologists first carry out an operation called prospecting, which involves hiking while keeping one's eyes focused on the ground in hopes of finding fragments of fossils on the surface.

Fossils are typically found in sedimentary rocks and occasionally some fine-grained, low-grade metamorphic rocks. Sometimes the fossils have been removed, leaving moulds in the surrounding rock, or the moulds may have later been filled by other materials, forming casts of the original fossils.

Paleontological resources, or fossils, are any evidence of past life preserved in geologic context. They are a tangible connection to life, landscapes, and climates of the past. They show us how life, landscapes, and climate have changed over time and how living things responded to those changes.

The "fossils" are based on the real fossil bones of Scaphognathus crassirostris, a ptersosaur ("flying reptile") that lived in the late Jurassic (around 150 mya) in the vicinity of present day Germany. Adults had a wingspan of about one meter. Teacher Resources: Do a web search for Scaphognathus and ptersosaurs.

Fossils are evidence of past life; remains of plants and animals that once lived. Fossils generally formed from living organisms 10,000 to 500,000,000 years ago. Fossils are found in sedimentary rocks.

Fossils are formed in many different ways, but most are formed when a living organism (such as a plant or animal) dies and is quickly buried by sediment (such as mud, sand or volcanic ash).

Fossils are made from rock which is shaped exactly the same as the object that was originally there. The object will be buried under sediment. This then gets squashed and turns into sedimentary rock. Then, water will go into the bones which will turn them into rock as it is leaving behind minerals!