Part 9: It's just a theory

Part 8 <-9-> Part 10

Except it isn't.

We've been discovering fossils since forever. And we've found MILLIONS of them.

In ancient times, Xenophanes (570–480 BC), Herodotus (484–425 BC), Eratosthenes (276–194 BC), and Strabo (64 BC–24 AD) wrote about fossils of marine organisms, indicating that land was once under water. The ancient Chinese considered them to be dragon bones and documented them as such.[1] During the Middle Ages, fossils were discussed by Persian naturalist Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in Europe) in The Book of Healing (1027), which proposed a theory of petrifying fluids that Albert of Saxony would elaborate on in the 14th century. The Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) would propose a theory of climate change based on evidence from petrified bamboo.

To anyone who doesn't have a particular interest in paleology, it can be easy to misunderstand the sheer amount of evidence that has been found. We typically only get exposed to what we can digest in a short amount of time, meaning we see the perfectly preserved examples, painstakingly cleaned and preserved and photographed under good lighting. But what goes unnoticed is that for each of these fossils making the cut for public consumption, there's a mountain of other ones. Kind of like someone going to a tire yard and finding a good-enough state tire to photograph but without the mountain of tires in the background to give context. it's just one tire, right?

Sites where fossils are found are typically washes where lots of animals ended up after floods or volcanic eruptions, landslides, and even the Tanis site, recently revealed to be a massive source of fossils, specifically showcasing dinosaurs that were killed in the Chixulub impact that shows a dionaur leg, preserved, after it was ripped off in the impact:

Tanis is a remarkable fossil site located in southwestern North Dakota, USA. It is part of the Hell Creek Formation, which is renowned for its rich fossil deposits from the Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleocene periods.

What makes Tanis particularly significant is its preservation of fossils that appear to be directly linked to the immediate aftermath of the Chicxulub asteroid impact, which is believed to have caused the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs2. The site contains a variety of well-preserved fossils, including fish, plants, and other organisms that were likely killed by the catastrophic events following the asteroid strike.

The discoveries at Tanis provide a unique snapshot of life and death at the very end of the Cretaceous period, offering invaluable insights into the events that led to one of the most significant mass extinctions in Earth’s history.

Some popular fossil sites: (Obvs there's a LOT more)

1. Morrison Formation (USA) - Known for its rich deposits of dinosaur fossils, including Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
2. Flaming Cliffs (Mongolia) - Famous for the discovery of dinosaur eggs and fossils of Velociraptor.
3. Burgess Shale (Canada) - Renowned for its well-preserved Cambrian fossils, providing insights into early marine life.
4. Solnhofen Limestone (Germany) - Famous for the Archaeopteryx, a transitional fossil between dinosaurs and birds.
5. La Brea Tar Pits (USA) - Known for Ice Age mammal fossils, including mammoths and saber-toothed cats.
6. Hell Creek Formation (USA) - Famous for Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops fossils.
7. Green River Formation (USA) - Known for exceptionally preserved fish fossils from the Eocene epoch.
8. Yixian Formation (China) - Renowned for feathered dinosaur fossils, including the famous Sinosauropteryx.
9. Karoo Supergroup (South Africa) - Known for early mammal-like reptile fossils from the Permian and Triassic periods.
10. Dinosaur Provincial Park (Canada) - Rich in dinosaur fossils, including hadrosaurs and ceratopsians.
11. Ischigualasto Formation (Argentina) - Known for early dinosaur fossils, including Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus.
12. Messel Pit (Germany) - Famous for well-preserved Eocene epoch fossils, including early mammals and birds.
13. Liaoning Province (China) - Renowned for feathered dinosaurs and early bird fossils.
14. Chengjiang Fossil Site (China) - Known for Cambrian fossils, providing insights into early marine ecosystems.
15. Wapiti Formation (Canada) - Rich in dinosaur fossils, including hadrosaurs and theropods.
16. Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada) - Known for Carboniferous period fossils, including early amphibians and plants.
17. Quarry 9 (USA) - Famous for Jurassic dinosaur fossils, including Apatosaurus and Diplodocus.
18. Beecher’s Trilobite Bed (USA) - Renowned for trilobite fossils with preserved soft tissues.
19. Mazon Creek (USA) - Known for its diverse fossil fauna, including plants, insects, and marine animals.
20. Rancho La Brea (USA) - Famous for Pleistocene fossils, including dire wolves and mastodons.
21. Dmanisi (Georgia) - Known for early human fossils, providing insights into human evolution.
22. Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) - Renowned for early human fossils and stone tools.
23. Williston Basin (USA) - Rich in marine fossils from the Cretaceous period.
24. Fossil Butte (USA) - Known for well-preserved fish fossils from the Eocene epoch.
25. Benton Formation (USA) - Famous for marine fossils, including ammonites and marine reptiles.
26. Lagerst?tte (Germany) - Renowned for exceptionally preserved fossils, including soft tissues.
27. Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (USA) - Known for a large concentration of dinosaur fossils, including Allosaurus.
28. Talara Tar Seeps (Peru) - Famous for Pleistocene fossils, including ground sloths and saber-toothed cats.
29. Hunsrück Slate (Germany) - Renowned for Devonian fossils, including trilobites and sea stars.
30. Ediacara Hills (Australia) - Known for Precambrian fossils, providing insights into early multicellular life.

That was largely animal, and dinosaur, and pre-chicxlulub, except for the ones that aren't.

Here are more from an anthropological (human) view:

1. Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) - Renowned for early human fossils and stone tools, providing insights into human evolution.
2. Dmanisi (Georgia) - Known for early Homo erectus fossils, offering a glimpse into early human migration.
3. Swartkrans (South Africa) - Famous for fossils of early hominins, including Paranthropus robustus.
4. Shanidar Cave (Iraq) - Notable for Neanderthal fossils and evidence of early burial practices.
5. Laetoli (Tanzania) - Known for the discovery of hominin footprints, providing evidence of bipedalism.
6. Sterkfontein (South Africa) - Rich in Australopithecus fossils, contributing to our understanding of early hominins.
7. Koobi Fora (Kenya) - Famous for a variety of hominin fossils, including Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
8. Atapuerca (Spain) - Renowned for a wealth of hominin fossils, including Homo antecessor.
9. Jebel Irhoud (Morocco) - Known for some of the oldest Homo sapiens fossils, dating back around 300,000 years.
10. Hadar (Ethiopia) - Famous for the discovery of “Lucy,” a well-preserved Australopithecus afarensis skeleton.
11. Sima de los Huesos (Spain) - Notable for a large collection of hominin fossils, including early Neanderthals.
12. Omo Kibish (Ethiopia) - Known for some of the oldest anatomically modern human fossils.
13. Klasies River Mouth (South Africa) - Renowned for early Homo sapiens fossils and evidence of early human behavior.
14. Qafzeh Cave (Israel) - Famous for early modern human fossils and evidence of complex burial practices.
15. Ledi-Geraru (Ethiopia) - Known for early Homo fossils, providing insights into the origins of our genus.
16. Ngandong (Indonesia) - Notable for late-surviving Homo erectus fossils.
17. Denisova Cave (Russia) - Renowned for the discovery of Denisovan fossils, a distinct group of archaic humans.
18. Flores (Indonesia) - Famous for Homo floresiensis, a small-bodied hominin species.
19. Blombos Cave (South Africa) - Known for early evidence of symbolic behavior and art.
20. Border Cave (South Africa) - Renowned for early Homo sapiens fossils and evidence of early human culture.
21. Lascaux (France) - Famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings, providing insights into early human art.
22. Skhul Cave (Israel) - Known for early modern human fossils and evidence of interaction with Neanderthals.
23. Tabun Cave (Israel) - Notable for a long sequence of hominin occupation, including Neanderthals and early modern humans.
24. Kabwe (Zambia) - Famous for the “Broken Hill Man,” an early Homo heidelbergensis fossil.
25. Nariokotome (Kenya) - Known for the nearly complete skeleton of a young Homo erectus, known as “Turkana Boy.”
26. Sangiran (Indonesia) - Renowned for numerous Homo erectus fossils.
27. Lomekwi (Kenya) - Famous for some of the oldest known stone tools, dating back 3.3 million years.
28. Grotte du Renne (France) - Notable for evidence of Neanderthal culture and interaction with modern humans.
29. Bouri (Ethiopia) - Known for early Homo erectus fossils and evidence of early tool use.
30. Ubeidiya (Israel) - Renowned for early Homo erectus fossils and evidence of early human migration out of Africa.

• List of fossil sites - Wikipedia
• Top 10 Ancient Ruins & Archaeological Sites - National Geographic
• Sterkfontein | Cradle of Humankind, Fossil Hominids, Limestone Caves - Britannica
• 13 of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas - Live Science
• Lee Berger’s discoveries - National Geographic
• Fourteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2022 - Smithsonian Magazine

Theory? maybe. Theoretical? Most definitely not.

Here's another geoclock because they're pretty: