Layers of Time Fossil Game
Layers of Time Fossil Game
headshot of Sterling Nesbitt

Hi, I'm Sterling Nesbitt,  a paleontologist! I study the fossilized bones of dinosaurs and their reptilian ancestors to learn what life was like millions of years ago.

headshot of Sterling Nesbitt

Hi, I'm
Sterling Nesbitt,  a paleontologist! I study the fossilized bones of dinosaurs and their reptilian ancestors to learn what life was like millions of years ago.

headshot of Sterling Nesbitt

Hi, I'm
Sterling Nesbitt,  a paleontologist! I study the fossilized bones of dinosaurs and their reptilian ancestors to learn what life was like millions of years ago.

My first job is to find the fossils. Fossils are found in layers of sedimentary rock. So that's where the team and I go — to places with sedimentary rock. They could be as close as New Mexico or as far away as the Gobi Desert in Mongolia!

Watch!

This video has two key facts you need to know to play the game!

Every fossil is a piece in the great puzzle that is the history of life on Earth.

Play this game to put the pieces together!

SHOW HIDE TRANSCRIPT

Hi! I’m Sterling Nesbitt, and I'm a paleontologist.

Before you can play Layers of Time, you’ve got to know two key facts.

First: Fossils are created over time.

Fossils are found in layers of sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed from layers of sand, silt, dead plants, and animal skeletons. Over millions of years, the plants and animals become fossils, preserving a record of that time.

Second: Extinction is forever.

What does that mean? Well, the time span that a species exists can be seen as a “column” extending through the rock layers. Once a species becomes extinct, it disappears from the fossil record and this column ends.

And that’s it! Now that you know these key facts, you’re ready to play Layers of Time. Rock on!

Image credits

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Image Credits:

Skeleton (Mongolia) and Lab Table: courtesy David Clark; Ghost Ranch lab and dig site: courtesy Duncan Clark; All fossil icons, Sean Murtha/ © AMNH; ammonite, © AMNH; Coelophysus, Sean Murtha/© AMNH; cockroach, Lisa Ames, UGA. Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0) ; Coleoptera, unsplash / Ritchie Valens; dragonfly, unsplash / Noble Brahma; Diptera, unsplash / Juan Pablo Mascanfroni; Dicynodont, public domain via Ghedoghedo/Wikimedia Commons; Effigia, Sean Murtha/© AMNH; flower, unsplash / Drew Beamer; gingko, unsplash / Photoholgic; horse, unsplash / Maksym Diachenko; Homo sapien, unsplash / Theodore Goutas; Icthyosaurs, © AMNH; mollusk, unsplash / Krzysztof Niewolny; Multituberculates, © AMNH; conifer, unsplash / Elisa Ph.; Postosuchus, Sean Murtha/© AMNH; Pterosaur, Sean Murtha/© AMNH; rudist, © AMNH; rugose coral, © AMNH, Sauropod, Rick Spears/© AMNH; shark, unsplash / Gerald Schömbs; Stegosaurus, Rick Spears/© AMNH; Tarbosaurus, Sean Murtha/© AMNH; trilobite, R. Mickens/© AMNH; Tyrannosaurus rex, Illustration by Zhao Chuang; Courtesy of PNSO.