The fossil record provides
- Acheck_circle
A biased but valuable snapshot of past biodiversity, especially organisms with hard parts deposited in sedimentary contexts
- B
A complete and unbiased census of every species that has ever lived, including all soft-bodied lineages
- C
An unreliable record with no evolutionary signal once organisms are buried in sedimentary deposits
- D
Direct genomic sequences from extinct organisms recovered intact from the surrounding rock layers
Explanation
Soft-bodied organisms rarely fossilize; the record is biased toward marine, hard-shelled, abundant species — but still invaluable for tracing evolutionary history.