Fossils, Geologic Time and Evolution

Three living fossils from the plant kingdom.

Fossils are precious gifts from the geologic past.

A select set of fossil pictures from your Guide.

Of the 50 states, 38 have official state fossils or state dinosaurs (or both).

The world's most spectacular fossil sites preserve microbes and other fantastic details of prehistoric life.

Start here with the eons and eras, then work your way down to the periods and epochs. More detailed time scales are in the "Geologic Time and Dating" list.

How, and why, we keep track of geologic time without using clocks or numbers.

Explaining the isotopic dating method in terms of your backyard barbecue.

Four billion years condensed into two pages.

Can you ace this millionaire-type quiz? Maybe the high stakes would leave you . . . petrified.

Museums are shaking off their patina of dust and coming alive on the Web--even the fossils.

It's a special kind of fossilization.

The actual bodies of dead (and living) things can last nearly forever.

Doug Mann of fossil-facts-and-finds.com gives a kid-friendly explanation of this perennial question.