News by Levels · Level 2 · Student worksheet

Small Fossils May Reveal Ancient Life Around a Whale

In this lesson: Use a comparison sample to understand an inference about where ancient animals lived.

Name: __________________________ Date: __________________

Read the story

Researchers have identified a previously unknown species of brittle star from tiny fossils found near whale bones in southern Denmark. The remains date to about 9.5 million years ago.

The pieces came from sediment collected during a whale fossil excavation in 2018. The researchers found brittle star remains in samples taken beside the bones, but not in comparison samples farther away.

According to the Museum of Southern Jutland, the pattern suggests that the animals lived on or near the dead whale on the seabed. The fossils cannot establish exactly what they ate.

Source: Museum of Southern Jutland via Brightsurf, 2026-11-03. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/1EOMDQQL/tiny-fossils-show-brittle-stars-gathered-around-a-dead-whale-95-million-years-ago.html

Read and practise

1. What difference did the researchers find between samples?

   1. Every sample contained exactly the same remains.
   2. Only samples farther away contained brittle stars.
   3. Samples beside the bones contained remains; farther comparison samples did not.

2. Which claim goes beyond what the fossils establish?

   1. The animals may have lived near the dead whale.
   2. The animals definitely ate one particular part of the whale.
   3. The remains include a previously unknown brittle star species.

Your turn

Explain how the comparison samples helped the researchers, and name one question they could not answer.

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Read online: https://newsbylevels.com/news/brittle-star-fossils-ancient-whale-denmark-november-2026/level-2/