What do index fossils do

Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Andrew Alden. Geology Expert. Andrew Alden is a geologist based in Oakland, California. He works as a research guide for the U. Geological Survey. Updated August 09, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Alden, Andrew.

Geologic Maps of the 50 United States. Learn About the Different Dinosaur Periods. Tectonic Plates' Effect on Evolution. The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo.

Words nearby index fossil index case , index crime , Index Expurgatorius , index extensor muscle , index finger , index fossil , index fund , index futures , indexical , indexing head , indexing service.

Words related to index fossil fossil record. How to use index fossil in a sentence But Sanders, a representative of the Northeastern vacation state of Vermont, also opposes fossil fuel development. The fossil remains of an organism that lived in a particular geologic age, used to identify or date the rock or rock layer in which it is found. The best type of index fossils are usually those of swimming or floating organisms that evolved quickly and therefore did not cover a long span of geologic history and were able to spread over large areas.

Ammonites and graptolites are good index fossils. All rights reserved. How can fossils be used to determine the relative ages of rock layers? How does the law of crosscutting relationships help scientists determine the relative age of rocks? Are only sedimentary rocks used for relative age determination? See all questions in Relative Ages of Rocks. Impact of this question views around the world. You can reuse this answer Creative Commons License.