microfossil

noun mi·cro·fos·sil \ ˌmī-krō-ˈfä-səl \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Definition of microfossil

: a small fossil that typically can be studied only microscopically and that may be either a fragment of a larger organism or an entire minute organism

Recent Examples of microfossil from the Web

Nestled inside the dusty fragments are millions of microfossils—preserved remains of pollen spores, leaf litter, wood and other debris.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid," 24 May 2018
And the researchers believe the results show that these microfossils are not impostors.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "Hotly debated 3.5 billion-year-old microbe fossils get another look," 3 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, "Top stories: Earth’s oldest life, a NASA mission to Titan, and whether growing up poor makes you wiser," 22 Dec. 2017
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, "Oldest Fossils On Earth Nearly 3.5 Billion Years Old," 19 Dec. 2017
But he is concerned that the microfossils may have been badly preserved.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Life may have originated on Earth 4 billion years ago, study of controversial fossils suggests," 18 Dec. 2017
Some of those extinct organisms might be microfossils entombed in rock.

— National Geographic, "NASA’s Bold Plan to Hunt for Fossils on Mars," 17 Oct. 2016
While examining the microfossils, Porter found circular wounds of various sizes.

— mark strauss, National Geographic, "You May Owe Your Existence to Tiny Vampires," 9 June 2016
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, "This May Be the Oldest Known Sign of Life on Earth," 1 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'microfossil.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.