Mammoths & CoralsMammoths & Corals

Paleontology

Let’s go explore Sugar Creek, Illinois

Back at base camp

A couple more clues…

Mammoth Skeleton

Mammoth reconstruction

Mammoth reconstruction

The Wooly Mammoth

What does the mammoth fossil tell us about past climates in Illinois?CLAIM:

EVIDENCE:

REASONING: Mammoths have physical features of animals adapted to colder environments, so the fossil mammoth found in Illinois sediments tell us that Illinois was colder 10,000 years ago.

Illinois had a colder climate in the past

10,000 year old mammoth fossils

Mammoths in Illinois

Pleistocene Epoch

18,000 years ago

Let’s go farther back in time

Explore the fossils at your tableUse the hand lensesUse the Illinois Fossil Sheet

In what kind of environment did these organisms live?

Tropical coral reefs

What do the coral fossils tell us about past environments in Illinois?CLAIM:

EVIDENCE:

REASONING: Corals live in warm, shallow oceans, so the fossil corals found in Illinois rocks tell us that Illinois used to be a warm, shallow ocean 450 million years ago.

Illinois used to be a warm shallow ocean

450 million year old coral fossils

Silurian Period - 455 million years ago

Ron Blakey

The world in the Silurian Period (455 million years ago)Red dot shows Chicago’s approximate location