It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.

动物和植物，特别是那些生活在水边或者水里的，它们的遗骸更容易保存下来。因为要保存遗骸，需要很快地埋起来，而只有在海里、河流和湖泊中，泥土和淤泥一直在不断地堆积，这样才能快速地把遗骸埋起来并保存。