faunal succession
Species replace species
Faunal succession is the principle that fossil organisms appear in rock layers in a consistent, predictable order.
Because species evolved, flourished, and went extinct over geological time, specific fossils mark specific periods—making them useful for dating and correlating rock formations across different locations.
The principle is foundational to paleontology and stratigraphy.
- relative datingSequencing events by position
- fossilizationOrganic remains becoming mineral
- zonationArrangement in distinct zones
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- sedimentary rocksStone formed from deposits
speciation · ammonites · extinction events · trilobites · sedimentology · unconformity · transitional fossils · paleoecology · fossil record · epochs · phylogeny · geochronology · layers · geological time · geologic time scale · deep time · evolution · Smith
- biostratigraphyzonation
- paleontologydinosaurs, fossil, paleontology, fossil record, dinosaur bones
- stratigraphystrata, rock layers, formations, beds, layers
- stratastratum, strata, bed, layer, layers