Answer:
an extinct plant or animal
Step-by-step explanation:
Fossils of an animal or plant refers to its preserved or mineralized remains. Fossils have proven to be an integral part of tracing life back. Among the very many usefulness of keeping fossil records of plant and animals, one of them is discovering the evolutionary relationships between these organisms.
Fossils of plants or animals are compared with that of a present organism to discover how related they are. However, a difficulty that arises during this comparative procedure is that the fossils about to be compared may be from an extinct plant or animal.