Fossils

Fossils are preserved remains of once-living organisms. They are usually formed when mineral-rich water makes its way into the deceased being's body. The minerals within the water aggregate within the spaces within the body and solidify. Once the organism's tissues have dissolved away, all that is left behind is a rock mold of the creature's shape.

Scientific View

---

Scientists often use fossils to evaluate the theory of evolution. They record the species that they find and compare them to living species in order to create a fossil record of life of Earth.[1] [2]

Scientiests use a process known as radiometric dating to determine the age of the fossils. Radiometric dating is a technique in which scientists observe the ammount of an elemental [isotope] within the fossil, then use the known decay rates of isotopes to calculate when the organism died. There are a number of different methods, some of which can be used to date a specimen that died up to three billion years ago. [3]

Creationist View

---

Many Young Earth Creationists disagree with the idea that fossils could be millions of years old because they believe the Earth to have been created only several thousand years ago. They point to the fact that some dinosaur bones have been found that still contain organic matter as evidence that these creatures were alive only several thousand years ago rather than 65 million years ago. They also point out that sometimes bones can fossilize very quickly if they are in the right place, so even though scientists predict that the process will usually take a very long time, this is not always the case.[4]

This organic matter present in dinosaur bones is debatable and inconclusive at present. "Red blood cells" found in a T. rex fossil have not been proven to be red blood cells. Creationists often use the argument for rapid fossilization but the requirements for rapid fossilization are very specific and unusual in real life. There are a lack of articles in any of the major scientific journals on the matter. Judging from the large number of fossils from different rock layers and rock types around the world it would be unlikely that they all formed from these very specific conditions.