National Fossil Day

Today is National Fossil Day!

What is this day about? The purpose of this day is to promote awareness and appreciation of fossils and paleontology. The day was originally born as part of an Earth Science Week established by the National Park Service in 2010, but has become a separate celebration in its own right. 

Fossils are important because they give a record of what animals and plants were like in the distant past. The oldest known fossil is the cyanobacteria fossil. These fossils were found in the Archaean rocks of Western Australia. These fossils have been dated to around 3.5 billion years old.

The youngest known fossils are from around 10,000 years ago, around the end of the last Ice Age. When it comes to humans, some of the oldest fossil evidence of evolution into modern humans was discovered in Ethiopia, dating back between 195,000 and 233,000 years ago. 

If you want to learn more about his day, you can click right here on the National Park Service website. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!