Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains of a prehistoric plant or animal, encased in rock over thousands of years. Fossils in the Animal Crossing series can be found on occasion around the player's town, buried under the soil with a tell-tale crack in the ground above it. Unidentified fossils can be dug up with a shovel; after which it can be taken to the museum or mailed away for identification, sold, placed in a house, or discarded.

In Animal Crossing, the fossils must each be individually mailed to a lab that is outside the player's town for identification. In Animal Crossing: Wild World & Animal Crossing: City Folk, it can be identified by Blathers, the curator, free of charge. Upon being identified, it can be donated or returned to the Player's inventory. In Wild World, there are 52 fossils to be collected, all forming a part of a dinosaur, early mammal, aquatic reptile or an entire, smaller, fossil. After being completed, Blathers gives a small but interesting talk on the finished fossil, while the fossil itself has its scientific name and the period in history that it lived in written next to the exhibit.

On average, you can find three fossils in your town per day. However, if your town is overrun with weeds or covered with patterns, this leaves less space for a fossil to be underground (a fossil can't be under rocks, where a flower or tree is, etc.) and you may not find some or any that day. Other items may also be buried underground.

In real life, it would be very close to impossible to find all of these fossils in a town. It would also be impossible to find all bugs and fish in a town.

Fossils as Furniture Items
Fossils may also be displayed in your house and provide large boosts for HRA scoring. Stand alone fossils (trilobite, egg, amber etc) provide small boosts, skulls provide a big boost and a completed skeleton gives the highest. As furniture, all fossils have either Old School (WW) or Retro (CF) genres.

Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon is a three-part fossil.

Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a three-part fossil. Upon donation in City Folk, Blathers will tell you: ''The spikes on the back are a characteristic of the iguanadon. When it was first found, it was actually thought to be a giant iguana because of the shape of its teeth. Indeed, that's how it got its name. It was also thought that it would fight off predators with its spikes... Any way one slices it, all signs point to this beast being one mobile, tough, herbivourous dinosaur!''

Pachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus is a three-part fossil. Upon donation in City Folk, Blathers will tell you: ''...Hoo my! At long last, the pachycephalosaurus is complete! Hootie woo! The wonder of it all! Pachycephalosaurus roamed the earth right up until the end of the dinosaurs, wot? Its characteristic round skull boasted bone that was almost a foot thick... Quite thick indeed! But its head wasn't especially big...so it had little room for any brain...''

Parasaur
Parasaur - real name Parasaurolophus - is a three-part fossil.

Plesiosaur
Plesiosaur is a three-part fossil. Upon donation in Animal Crossing, Blathers will tell you: ''At last! At last! Huzzah! The plesiosaur is... complete! I never thought I would live to see this day! It’s fantastic! Brilliant! A wonderful, joyful occasion! Delight ripples through my body and soul! But I'm getting carried away. Now then, where shall I begin with these leviathans? The great plesiosaurs... In actuality, plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs, but aquatic reptiles, which ruled the seas during the Mesozoic era. There were two main types of plesiosaurs, both of which had broad bodies, four large flippers, and short tails. The two groups were distinct in that one had long necks and small heads, the other short necks and large heads. The plesiosaurs ranged in size from 8 to 46 feet long, and their diets consisted of fish and other marine creatures. The first plesiosaur fossil was discovered in 1824, and subsequent findings have been made on every continent. Incredible, eh wot? Indeed! What I wouldn't do to dig one up myself! The thrill! Where in blazes is my shovel? Hoo hoo hoo! Oh, my! I must beg your pardon. The very idea of field work gets my crumpets toasting!''