Montage of multiple fossils. Clockwise from top left: Onychocrinus and Palaeosinopa; bottom row: Gryphaea and Harpactocarcinus A fossil (from Classical Latin fossilis, lit. ' obtained by digging ') [1] is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age.Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, …