Studying the matrix, or sediment, that surrounded the specimen in the ground provides evidence for how the animal lived and where it died:

• Fossil pollen and leaves tell about ancient vegetation and climate.
• Invertebrate shells contain chemical signals in their oxygen isotopes that can reveal the water temperature when the animal was alive.
• Sediments and invertebrate shells can show wether the animal was buried in a lake, stream, ocean, or bog.

Violent End

• Animals can die from old age or they can be killed by:
• Disease such as osteoarthritis, infections, tumors.
• Starvation.
• Predators.
• A natural catastrophe, such as a flood.

The way an animal dies may leave marks on the animal's bones or affect how the bones are deposited at a burial site. Here's what you might see:

• Bone deformed during life (osteoarthritis, infections, tumors).
• Bone that was thin and weak during life (starvation).
• Crushing or tooth punctures on bones, missing skeletal parts (predators).
• Bones of many different animals preserved in one area (a natural catastrophe, such as a drought flood).