Preservation
The majority of the fossil record consists of the robust matter of decayed corpses. The Ediacaran biota had soft bodies and no skeletons, making their abundant preservation surprising. The absence of burrowing creatures living in the sediments undoubtedly helped. After the evolution of these organisms in the Cambrian, soft-bodied impressions were usually disturbed before they could fossilize.
Read more about this topic: Ediacaran Biota
Famous quotes containing the word preservation:
“If there is ANY THING which it is the duty of the WHOLE PEOPLE to never entrust to any hands but their own, that thing is the preservation and perpetuity, of their own liberties, and institutions.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“The reason why men enter into society, is the preservation of their property; and the end why they choose and authorize a legislative, is, that there may be laws made, and rules set, as guards and fences to the properties of all the members of the society: to limit the power, and moderate the dominion, of every part and member of the society.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
“The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.”
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)