Dedicated to no one, because that is who's going to read this book

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/af29x78vsbfr

No.

Do you know what a fossil is?

A fossil is the naturally saved remains of animals or plants that lived a very long time ago. The oldest fossil ever found was 3.5 billion years old!

Can you help me find a fossil?

But that looks like a rock!

That's not a rock Henri! That's a gastropod fossil. A gastropod is just the fancy scientific name for snail.

How did a snail get like this?

Fossils are formed after something dies, so this little snail died, then his soft tissue decomposed and all that was left was his shell. Then mud and sediment covered his shell, and under lots of pressure, the shell turned into a hard rock.

So it IS a rock!

Nope! Because then the rock is dissolved by groundwater, leaving a hollow space called a natural mold. Then water enters this mold, and deposits minerals, which is what you’re holding now.

Gastropod fossils can be up to 500 million years old. The only way to know how old this one is, is to go ask a paleontologist. Let’s go right now!

you said the oldest fossil is 3.5 billion years old. Is that how old this one is?

Hi Mr. Paleontologist! Can you tell us how you date fossils?

Of course! The first way to find a fossil’s age is to use carbon dating. In our atmosphere, there are particles of carbon-14, which is radioactive, then the carbons get into little animals, like snails, and even you!