How long does it take for a bone to fossilise?

The most common type of fossilisation, permineralisation, where minerals replace bone tissue, takes at least 10,000 years to begin and 1-2 million years for the result to be recognisable as a fossil. Most fossils we display in museums are 50-300 million years old.

What percentage of dinosaurs became fossils?

Far less than 1%. Conservative estimates put the fossilisation rate at roughly one specimen for every 10,000-100,000 individuals that ever lived. The total number of T-Rex skeletons recovered to date is around 50, while estimates of total T-Rex individuals that ever lived run into the billions.

Can a fossil contain original DNA?

Trace fragments yes, complete sequences no. DNA degrades to unrecoverable levels within roughly 6.8 million years under ideal preservation conditions. Dinosaur DNA is far too old. Proteins have been recovered from some specimens (a 2007 T-Rex specimen yielded collagen fragments), but full genome recovery from dinosaur fossils is not biologically possible.

Why are most fossils found in the same places?

Fossilisation requires specific geological conditions, fine sediment, low oxygen, eventual exposure through erosion. The badlands of Montana, the Gobi Desert, the Patagonian steppe, and the Jurassic Coast of England share these conditions. Other places (most tropical forests, for instance) destroy organic matter too quickly for fossils to form.

Are most museum fossils real or replicas?

Most major museum mounts are casts of real fossils, not the originals. The originals are too fragile, too valuable, and too few to risk on public display. A typical museum has the real bones in climate-controlled storage and the casts in the exhibit hall. The casts are anatomically perfect copies.

How dinosaur fossils form: the geology behind every replica