any fossil of wide geographical distribution and a short range in time, used to correlate and date rock strata and their associated fossils
index fossil
index fossilWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"index fossil." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil>.
APA Style
index fossil. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil
index fossil
noun
The fossil remains of an organism that lived in a particular geologic age, used to identify or date the rock or rock layer in which it is found. Also called guide fossil .
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"index fossil." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil>.
APA Style
index fossil. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil
The fossil remains of an organism that lived in a particular geologic age, used to identify or date the rock or rock layer in which it is found. The best type of index fossils are usually those of swimming or floating organisms that evolved quickly (and therefore did not cover a long span of geologic history) and were able to spread over large areas. Ammonites and graptolites are good index fossils.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"index fossil." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil>.
APA Style
index fossil. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"index fossil." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil>.
APA Style
index fossil. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/index-fossil
