Glutamic acid is a natural constituent of many fermented or aged foods, including soy sauce, fermented bean paste, and cheese, and is also a component of hydrolyzed protein such as yeast extract. The sodium salt of glutamic acid, monosodium glutamate (MSG), is a widely used additive in the food industry.
Paleontologistâs estimate that only a small percentage of the dinosaurs that ever lived have been or will be found as fossils, because their bodies simply decayed. The word fossil comes from the Latin word fossils, which means, âdug upâ. Most fossils are excavated from sedimentary rock layers. Sedimentary rock is rock that has formed from materials like sand, mud, and small pieces of rock. Over long periods of time, these small pieces of debris are squeezed and are buried under more and more layers of sediment that piles up on top of it.
Once there, the fossils found in these deposits may be excavated, or more likely, uncovered through the processes of erosion. Not every type of rock contains fossils, so paleontologists focus their discovery efforts on areas with the type of rock most likely to contain them: sedimentary rock. They look along hillsides and in other areas where uplift and erosion have occurred, potentially exposing previously buried fossils.