![[Mounted statue of a Triceratops fossil at a museum. People can be seen in the background looking at a wall of fossils. ]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/06/Triceratops_mount-biases.jpg)
As scientists, we strive to reduce error and bias as much as possible. But as a paleontologist, I need to be aware of the biases I can’t reduce. The fossil record is inherently biased. Not everything that dies becomes a fossil. Not every fossil has been found. Not every fossil stays intact well enough to study. These biases in the fossil record come in many forms and are studied under the branch of paleontology known as taphonomy…