Lesson 4.6.3.5

4.6.3.5 Fossils Quiz: AQA Biology, Unit 6

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 4.6.3.5, Fossils: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Biology (8461), Unit 6: Inheritance, variation and evolution, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What are the preserved remains of organisms from millions of years ago called?

    • Minerals
    • Sediments
    • Fossils
    • Crystals

  2. Which missing condition prevents decay, allowing soft tissue fossils to form?

    • Light
    • Oxygen
    • Minerals
    • Carbon dioxide

  3. Fossils can form when parts of an organism are replaced by what?

    • Water
    • Air
    • Plastic
    • Minerals

  4. Which of these is a preserved trace fossil?

    • Footprints
    • A living tree
    • A living bacterium
    • A fresh leaf

  5. Why are there very few fossils of the earliest life forms on Earth?

    • They lived inland
    • They lacked DNA
    • They were soft-bodied
    • They had shells

  6. What destroyed most of the few fossil traces left by early organisms?

    • Bacterial decay
    • Solar radiation
    • Geological activity
    • Atmospheric oxygen

  7. What key information can scientists learn by studying the fossil record?

    • Exact animal lifespans
    • Daily animal behaviour
    • How species evolved
    • Rates of photosynthesis

  8. Which type of diagram shows how different species are evolutionarily related?

    • Pyramid of biomass
    • Food web
    • Evolutionary tree
    • Pedigree chart

  9. What do the split points on an evolutionary tree represent?

    • Extinction events
    • Mass mutations
    • Common ancestors
    • Geographical barriers

  10. A fossil footprint was made in mud, which later hardened into rock. Which fossil type is this?

    • Replaced by minerals
    • A recent bone fragment
    • A preserved trace
    • A frozen whole body

  11. Which process forms fossils when dissolved minerals replace decaying tissue in bone?

    • Mineralisation
    • Condensation
    • Photosynthesis
    • Fermentation

  12. On an evolutionary tree, what indicates that two species are closely related?

    • Recent common ancestor
    • Similar body mass
    • Equal lifespans
    • Identical habitats

  13. What replaces decaying organic material during the formation of mineralised fossils?

    • Pure carbon
    • Liquid water
    • Minerals
    • Synthetic polymers

  14. Why are early life forms rarely preserved in the fossil record?

    • Mostly soft-bodied
    • Extremely large
    • Lived in air
    • Lived underground

  15. Which of these is an example of a preserved fossil trace?

    • Shells
    • Teeth
    • Bones
    • Footprints

  16. In which type of rock are fossils most commonly found?

    • Metamorphic rock
    • Magma rock
    • Sedimentary rock
    • Igneous rock

  17. What can scientists learn about life on Earth by studying fossils?

    • How species changed
    • Exact ocean temperatures
    • Atmospheric composition
    • Speed of gravity

  18. Why are scientists uncertain about how life first began on Earth?

    • No existing DNA
    • Lack of rocks
    • Excessive fossil data
    • Incomplete fossil record

  19. What does a branch point on an evolutionary tree represent?

    • Extinction event
    • Common ancestor
    • Population decrease
    • New mutation

  20. What main process destroyed many early fossil traces in rocks?

    • Ocean evaporation
    • Global cooling
    • Photosynthesis
    • Geological activity

All AQA Biology quizzes