o Index Fossil: A good index
fossil is one with four characteristics: it is distinctive,
widespread, abundant, and limited in geologic time. Any type of organism can be
distinctive, but not so many are widespread. Other major index fossils are small or
microscopic, part of the floating plankton in the world ocean. These are handy
because of their small size. They can be found even in small bits of rock, such as
wellbore cuttings. Because their tiny bodies rained down all over the ocean, they
can be found in all kinds of rocks. For terrestrial rocks, which form on land,
regional or continental index fossils may include small rodents that evolve
quickly, as well as larger animals that have wide geographic ranges. Index fossils
are used in the formal architecture of geologic time for defining the ages, epochs,
periods, and eras of the geologic time scale. Some of the boundaries of these
subdivisions are defined by mass extinction events, like the Permian-Triassic
extinction. The evidence for these events is found in the fossil record wherever
there is a disappearance of major groups of species within a geologically short
amount of time.
o Burgess Shale: This site is high in the Canadian Rockies within Yoho National
Park near the town of Field, British Columbia, Canada. The Burgess Shale fossils
are about 505 million years old, some 20 million years younger than those from
Chengjiang. he Burgess Shale was science's first glimpse of the Cambrian
Explosion in the fossil record. The Burgess Shale comprises shale, limestone and
siltstone and extends in a large area in outcrops of the Stephen Formation that
exhibite different faunal mixes.
o Beecher’s Trilobite Bed: Beecher's Trilobite Beds is a Konservat-Lagerstätten of
Late Ordovician (Caradoc) age located within the Frankfort Shale in Cleveland's
Glen, Rome, Oneida Co., New York, USA.[1][2] Only 3-4 centimeters thick,
Beecher's Trilobite Beds have yielded numerous exceptionally preserved trilobites
with the ventral anatomy and soft tissue intact, the soft tissue preserved by pyrite
replacement.[2][3] Pyritization allows the use of X-rays to study fine detail of
preserved soft body parts still within the host rock
o Mazon Creek: One of the best records of late Paleozoic ecosystems, the Mazon
Creek Lagerstätte is world famous for its striking flora and fauna preserved within
siderite concretions. The late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) Mazon Creek
Lagerstätte, Illinois, USA, is exceptional for the diversity and abundance of
preserved fauna and flora found within siderite concretions.
o Ghost Ranch: a noted New Mexico fossil bed, which produced specimens like
the Coelophysis bauri specimen
o Solnhofen Limestone: Today, in the state of Bavaria, in region between
Nuremberg and Munich, these carbonate muds form a type of fine-grained, flat-
cleaving limestone (known as Plattenkalk in German) that has been quarried since
the Stone Age for roof and floor tiles, and more recently for lithography. These
rocks -- known as the Solnhofen or Solenhofen Limestone, after the small town of
Solnhofen -- are also famous for their fossils. Although relatively rare, fossils
from the Solnhofen Limestone may show exquisite detail, and often include
fragile or soft-bodied organisms that usually leave no fossils at all, or only
fragmentary ones.
o Yixian Formation (Liaoning): The Yixian Formation is a geological
formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million
years during the early Cretaceous period. It is known for its fossils, and is mainly
comprised of basalts interspersed with siliciclastic sediments.[1]
o Green River Formation: One of the most important fossil sites for
understanding the Eocene is found at Green River, located in western Colorado,
eastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming in the United States.
o La Brea Tar Pits: For these are the La Brea tar pits, containing one of the
richest, best preserved, and best studied assemblages of Pleistocene vertebrates,
including at least 59 species of mammal and over 135 species of bird. The tar pit
fossils bear eloquent witness to life in southern California from 40,000 to 8,000
years ago; aside from vertebrates, they include plants, mollusks, and insects --
over 660 species of organisms in all. It is in California.
