How to Use microfossil in a Sentence

microfossil

noun
  • But he is concerned that the microfossils may have been badly preserved.
    Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, 18 Dec. 2017
  • And the researchers believe the results show that these microfossils are not impostors.
    Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 3 Jan. 2018
  • Scientists know this thanks to a handful of ancient teeth, whose plaque revealed microfossils of fish scales, fish flesh and starch granules.
    Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 2 July 2018
  • And where there are geochemical signs of life, there could also be microfossils.
    Peter Byrne, Quanta Magazine, 24 Apr. 2014
  • The rush of water washed ashore marine worms, microfossils of which were recently unearthed.
    Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 9 May 2017
  • The microfossils also lend support to the idea that the warm, watery, mineral-rich neighborhoods around submerged vents are prime places for life to emerge, whether on this planet, on the seafloors of icy moons, or elsewhere in the universe.
    Photograph Courtesy Matthew Dodd, National Geographic, 1 Mar. 2017
  • Researchers will analyze sediment samples from the test pits for traces of pollen and microfossils that might yield clues as to whether the stones were built in an intertidal marsh, a wooded area, or on farmland.
    Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 1 July 2018
  • Some of those extinct organisms might be microfossils entombed in rock.
    National Geographic, 17 Oct. 2016
  • Nestled inside the dusty fragments are millions of microfossils—preserved remains of pollen spores, leaf litter, wood and other debris.
    Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 24 May 2018
  • The sediment layers where the skeleton was positioned, known as microfossils, were crucial to determining the quadrupedal whale's age, around 42.6 million years ago.
    David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 4 Apr. 2019
  • One geoscientist had to make countless trips up and down the stairs of the department building to personally hand off each microfossil to a technician for polishing.
    David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The microfossil of a voracious eukaryote doesn’t exactly have the distinguishing characteristics of, say, a Tyrannosaurus rex or a saber-toothed cat.
    Mark Strauss, National Geographic, 9 June 2016
  • While examining the microfossils, Porter found circular wounds of various sizes.
    Mark Strauss, National Geographic, 9 June 2016
  • Paleosols are typically full of pollen and microfossils of simple organisms, such as diatoms, a kind of algae that can indicate climate conditions.
    Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2019
  • However, many scientists believe the Western Australia microfossils are not fossils at all, but the result non-biological processes of geology such as changes in heat and pressure.
    Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 1 Mar. 2017
  • All of these microfossils — or the chemical evidence associated with them — are hotly debated.
    Quanta Magazine, 22 Jan. 2018
  • Now, a comprehensive analysis of the microfossils suggests that these formations do indeed represent ancient microbes; ones potentially so complex that life on our planet must have originated some 500 million years earlier.
    Roni Dengler, Science | AAAS, 22 Dec. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'microfossil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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