1. 1.1 Introduction
   1. Fossil
      1. any evidence of ancient life
         1. usually inside sedimentary rock
         2. tar
         3. resin
         4. ice
      2. generally over 10,000 years
   2. Earth
      1. life for 4bn years
      2. dynamic
         1. changing environments context for life
      3. probably massive events affected evolution
   3. Fossil Fuels
      1. fossils used for matching rock ages
      2. the past is the key to the future
      3. past used to interpret climate change
   4. Strata
      1. sedimentary layers
      2. diaries of earth history
         1. layers = pages
         2. pages missing
         3. detective work
            1. multidisciplinary
            2. complex interactions
            3. atoms
            4. cells
            5. tissues
            6. organs
            7. individuals
            8. populations
            9. species
            10. biosphere
   5. Uncertainty
      1. difficult to reconstruct ancient life
      2. hard to do experiments
      3. all theories up for re-interpretation
2. 1.2 Getting into the fossil record
   1. Different forms
      1. body
         1. bodily remains
      2. trace
         1. footprints
      3. chemical
         1. rare