Fossils Practice Test

If necessary, review:

• Fossils Help
• Fossils, Climatic Changes, and Mineralization Help
• Naming and Reconstructing Fossils Help
• Finding Fossils Help

Fossils Practice Test

1. A group of fossils that lived in the same environment when they were alive are called a fossil

(a) club

(b) community

(c) habitat

(d) find

2. Homo sapiens are the

(a) names of rock music groups

(b) kingdom and phylum names for humans

(c) genus and species names for humans

(d) genus and species names for whales

3. Paleontologists think the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea began during which period?

(a) Cambrian

(b) Mesozoic

(c) Jurassic

(d) Triassic

4. Fossils in an assemblage

(a) are easy to find

(b) can be from more than one fossil community

(c) are never seen

(d) can be from only one fossil community

5. A fossil is formed from

(a) children’s clay

(b) the remains of plants and animals preserved by natural causes in the Earth’s crust

(c) igneous rock

(d) seawater that has dried and formed crystals

6. When the organic parts of an organism are replaced by inorganic minerals, it is called

(a) ionization

(b) mass wasting

(c) mineralization

(d) organization

7. Prosauropods were what type of dinosaur?

(a) plant eaters

(b) meat eaters

(c) snakes

(d) hard shelled

8. Different fossils found together in one sediment type are known as the

(a) Brontosaurus band

(b) ammonites

(c) facies fauna

(d) differentiated flora

9. When older fossils are found in the deepest levels of sedimentary rock and younger fossils are found near to the surface, it is called

(a) fossil succession

(b) a lucky find

(c) lithification

(d) careful digging and a sharp eye

10. Sometimes, the only clue to the existence of an ancient soft-bodied marine species is

(a) a large coprolite sample

(b) a forwarding address

(c) the color of the sedimentary rock

(d) the fossilized tunnels left behind

Answers:

1. B

2. C

3. D

4. B

5. B

6. C

7. A

8. C

9. A

10. D