One pattern in the fossil record is the presence of forms with transitional characteristics, arranged in sequential stratigraphic order. This means that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution and it shows tiny changes in the structures of organisms as time moved forward.
Fossils give us information about how animals and plants lived in the past. ... Some animals and plant are only known to us as fossils. By studying the fossil record we can tell how long life has existed on Earth, and how different plants and animals are related to each other.
The fossil record is the highly ordered sequence in which fossils are found in layers of sedimentary rock.