Fossils Video

Paleontologists regularly dig treasures out of the earth in the form of fossils. These remains of once-living things can tell us much about life in the past. Using modern technology, even more discoveries are coming to light. For example, fossilized remains captured in amber contain soft tissue such as organs, perhaps even DNA. The body of a wooly mammoth discovered in 1997 in Siberia had preserved hair and soft tissue. The hundreds of fossilized animals found in Nebraska’s Ashfall Fossil Beds appear to be a snapshot in time, as the animals were quickly preserved in volcanic ash. Scientists are not sure what creatures made mysterious tunnels in Mammoth Cave National Park, but they will keep searching. Every find sheds more light on extinct creatures and helps fill in gaps in the evolutionary record.