fossilization

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Based on this evidence, the researchers concluded that the animal had partially decomposed before fossilization, altering its appearance and leading to the earlier misidentification.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

Given the rarity of fossilization for hominin remains and how few have been found, we might never catch a glimpse of our immediate direct ancestor, Wood says.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 3, 2024

Ms. Losso was analyzing the trilobites’ appendages when she came across a curled Ceraurus trilobite with a set of plates called sternites lining its stomach that rarely survives fossilization.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2023

Unlike other methods of fossilization in which organic matter is replaced over time by sediment, tar preserves a bone’s collagen, which is more conducive to getting a precise radiocarbon date.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2023

Again there is a sort of mental fossilization which we find in folk-lore and the deep-lying irrational superstitions and prejudices that still survive among modern civilized people.

From A Short History of the World by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)