Why is the fossil record incomplete? Survival of the toughest

The new ELI published today is 'Shell shake - survival of the toughest; why is the fossil record incomplete?'

In this activity, pupils deliberately smash a variety of seashells to see which ones are strong enough to remain recognisable, and which ones are so weak that they would leave little or no evidence of their existence. This leads pupils to realise that the fossil record is often biased.
This is one of the many Earthlearningideas about fossils and erosion; search our website for more.