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#1 We can learn about our past by looking at the remains of animals that have been dead and buried for millions of years. But since there were no eyewitnesses, and very few fossils, any attempt to see our past seems doomed from the start.

#2 Paleontology is the study of fossils, and it is done field-style. Paleontologists still need to look at rock and the fossils within must be removed by hand, so many decisions need to be made when prospecting for and removing fossil bone.

#3 The fossil record is extremely limited, and to find sites with rocks of the right age, type, and position, serendipity must play a role. The fossils inside these rock layers also follow a progression, with lower layers containing species entirely different from those in the layers above.

#4 The order of fossils in the world's rocks is powerful evidence of our connections to the rest of life. If, digging in 600-million-year-old rocks, we found the earliest jellyfish lying next to the skeleton of a woodchuck, then we would have to rewrite our texts.