Editing Taphonomy (section)

===Characteristics of the habitat===
Most fossils form in conditions where material is [[Deposition (geology)|deposit]]ed on the bottom of water bodies. Coastal areas are often prone to high rates of erosion, and rivers flowing into the sea may carry a high particulate load from inland. These sediments will eventually settle out, so organisms living in such environments have a much higher chance of being preserved as fossils after death than do those organisms living in non-depositing conditions. In continental environments, fossilization is likely in lakes and riverbeds that gradually fill in with organic and inorganic material. The organisms of such habitats are also liable to be overrepresented in the fossil record than those living far from these aquatic environments where burial by sediments is unlikely to occur.<ref>{{cite web |title=How are dinosaur fossils formed? |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-are-fossils-formed.html |website=www.nhm.ac.uk |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>