The term remainder refers to what remains or remains of a whole. A fossil, on the other hand, is an organic substance that shows a certain degree of petrification and that can be found in the layers of the Earth. Fossil is also the vestige that reveals the existence of beings that are not part of the geological present.
The fossil remains, therefore, belong to organisms that, through a process of mineralization, have become rocks. These changes in their structure make it possible for them to survive over time.
For example: "Paleontologists found new fossil remains at the base of Cerro Carmón" , "When I was a child, I could spend hours looking at the fossil remains exhibited in the museum in my city" , "The analysis of the fossil remains allowed specialists determine that this species was herbivorous ” .
It can be said, in short, that the fossil remains are living organisms that are petrified by the action of the minerals with which they were in contact. The action of these minerals causes certain components of the organism to be replaced and the external appearance to be maintained.
The physical and chemical process that allows the development of fossil remains is called fossilization, and this implies different transformations in the structure and composition of the remains of the living being and requires time to develop. It should be noted that the usual thing is that the remains of the living being decompose soon after death, so fossilization and the production of fossil remains are rare.
There are two well-defined ways to find fossil remains: on the one hand, it is possible to find them by chance while carrying out a construction job or an expedition, among other cases, without the intention or technical knowledge; the most common, however, is through an archaeological excavation. This last procedure consists of acting on a certain terrain with the defined objective of finding remains, whether they are fossils or articles created by man, such as utensils from an ancient civilization.
One of the most prominent examples is the novel " Jurassic Park ", published by Michael Crichton in 1990, which reviews animal exploitation and trade in the field of genetic engineering, specifically when a billionaire tycoon orders the construction of a theme park on an island paradise to lead an experiment that consists of reviving dinosaurs from the fossil remains of a mosquito covered in amber.
This book, in turn, was brought to the big screen by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, who wowed the world three years later with his eponymous film. Seeing such an impressive reproduction of the dinosaurs in motion creates an impact that is very difficult to resist; in fact, many paleontologists who were children when " Jurassic Park " was released attribute much of their interest in the subject.
In video games, the possibilities of bringing the world of dinosaurs closer to consumers are even greater, thanks to the interaction that characterizes them. In the " Animal Crossing " series (its title has not been translated into Spanish, but is marketed intact in Spanish-speaking countries), developed and published by the Japanese company Nintendo for several of its platforms, the player has the particular ability to find and unearth with great ease a large number of dinosaur fossils, ranging from eggs to skeletons of large beasts, such as Tyrannosaurus rex .