what information does the fossil record provide?
 The most direct information the fossil record provides is of an organism's physical structure and what it may have looked like, thereby enabling it to be classified. The fossil record provides evidence of when and how life began on the planet, what types of organisms existed and how long they persisted, how they lived, died, and evolved, and what the climate was and how it changed. It also provides clues to climatic and tectonic evolution of the planet. 