What is the difference between petrified and fossilized

Generally speaking there isn't really a distinction between petrified and fossilized. Petrification is sort of a Victorian-era garbage can word for fossilization.

Fossilization doesn't connotate anything specific other than being biological elements being incorporated into the rock record. There are many ways in which a bone can be preserved - in "rocks" that are young enough, there may be no changes aside from the complete loss of collagen holocene zooarchaeological material, for example. Most of the time, bones have undergone some degree of remineralization - the original apatite mineral of the bone changes into different 'species' of phosphate minerals, often due to substitution of dissolved chemicals in groundwater.

Often times, bones can be phosphatized - additional phosphate will form in addition to phosphatic recrystallization of the bone. Various phosphatic remineralization styles are the most common ways bones fossilize. Bones can also rarely be silicified, where silica dissolved in groundwater will precipitate in bone pores.

That all being said, this doesn't mean that you can tell the age of a fossil or even the environment it was deposited in from its mineral content or similarly, its weight : these modes of fossilization are mostly contingent upon groundwater chemistry after deposition.

Another iteration of Bobby's explanation is this:. The term is often substituted for "mineralized" in describing a bone or tooth. But, fossilized doesn't always equate to mineralized because many fossils are not reinforced or replaced by minerals.

Bone is primarily composed of hydroxyapatite and collagen. Hydroxyapatite is an inorganic compound of calcium, phosphate, and hydroxide which is organized in a crystal latticework that gives bone and teeth structural rigidity.

It preserves well as a fossil under some conditions. Collagen is a fiberous protein that serves as connective tissue in bones and muscles. It does not preserve well in a fossil. As collagen decomposes, it may be replaced in the hydroxyapatite latticework by minerals from the depositional environment e. If bone the hydroxyapatite structure is reinforced with exogenous minerals, it is said to be "mineralized. A 'burn test' or 'match test' will usually indicate only whether there is collagen remaining in a bone -- scorched collagen has an awful smell.

Teeth - dentin and enamel - contain hydroxyapatite, but don't contain collagen, so the 'burn test' on a tooth would be a waste of time. Thanks guys! I will pass this along to my dad. Well, I will tell him that neither is necessarily older based upon composition. And if he cares to know the reasoning or science behind it, I will attempt to explain. Or else I will let him read what you have said. He will understand. I understand, but you guys have explained it better than I could.

Yeh,what what he said. You might be able to tighten the age range by identifying the skull to species or subspecies though any two bison researchers may not agree on the subspecies. First, Bison appears in North America south of 55 degrees N latitude roughly , to , years ago.

In general larger-horned species of Bison lived before shorter-horned species but species overlapped too. Since your skull appears to belong to a shorter-horned species, that would indicate that it is much younger than , years old.

I know little about Bison but just thought I would throw out some rough numbers for you to work with. You might want to read this thread from early this year:. You might want to contact the members who made comments on the species to get their opinions. You might want to look for this book as well:. In Emry, R. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Just to add to the confusion ….

A fossil is defined as the preserved remains of an animal, plant or other organism and would generally infer some kind of lithification, mineralisation, chemical alteration or diagenesis. Various types of preservation processes proceed at different rates for different kinds of tissues and conditions of exposure or burial and chemical interaction.

Some types of mummification beyond simple dehydration would also be regarded as fossilisation processes. Although most ordinary folk tend to think of fossils in millions of years of age, for palaeontologists there is a generally accepted but completely arbitrary cut-off date of 10, years. For recent fossils, the preservation may be dehydration or enrobement coupled with some level of mineralisation — even if only as a surface effect. For ancient fossils, complete mineralisation and replacement of the original organic item or the voids within it is more typical.

Organic material trapped in fossilised tree resin represents a process where the mineralisation may largely be a surface effect and the preservation is assisted by the consequent exclusion of oxygen. Some substances allied to amber many insect-containing copals for example would be excluded from the fossil definition by the 10, year rule rather than excluded by virtue of the preservation process. There are other examples of mineralisation processes which — although recent — are no different than some of the processes which create fossils as we know them.

Such instances have been reported for the buried portions of old fence posts and also modern fruits which have been exposed to highly saline or mineral-rich water. Here in the UK there are several areas of salt-marsh where you can find siderite nodules containing recent items. Sorry, I've been absent from the site for a few weeks and just checked back in.

I have wondered the same thing Ramo. I happen to be visiting my folks as we speak. I will see if I can get a better look. My dad doesn't think so, but I am not sure I will try to take some better photos and get them posted. Our furniture and art work have all been created using petrified wood.

What is petrified wood? What is the difference between petrified and fossilized wood? Fossil wood furniture Fossil wood art panel Round glass table with fossil wood base Petrified wood table set Petrified wood art panel. In some cases, the wood fibers and cellulose dissolve and some minerals replace them. What is a natural cast? Natural casts are formed when minerals are deposited within the mold.

Casts can also be synthetically created when the molds are filled or covered with synthetic material, such as latex or plaster of paris, to generate a replica of the organism.

What is the process of Permineralization? Permineralization is a process of fossilization in which mineral deposits form internal casts of organisms. Carried by water, these minerals fill the spaces within organic tissue. What is fossilized bone? The most common process of fossilization happens when an animal is buried by sediment, such as sand or silt, shortly after it dies.

Its bones are protected from rotting by layers of sediment. As its body decomposes all the fleshy parts wear away and only the hard parts, like bones, teeth, and horns, are left behind. Can human bones fossilize? Birds, for example, are very, very rare in the fossil record, because avian bones are incredibly fragile, and are unlikely to remain intact long enough to become fossils.

On the other hand, it turns out humans are actually fairly well-suited to becoming fossils. What is it called when wood turns to stone? Petrified wood from the Latin root petro meaning "rock" or "stone"; literally "wood turned into stone" is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. What is Coprolite worth? What are the examples of fossils? Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood, oil, coal, and DNA remnants.

The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record.