We find things by bones? Surely, there's a fossilized mollusk somewhere.... what animals we didn't find cuz they don't have skeletons like octopuses?
it depends!
it's true that bones are the easiest and most common things to find. they last longer than soft tissues and are harder to be broken down by the elements. a majority of evidence about extinct animals comes from them.
there are some cases, though, where softer tissues, footprints, or even feces has been fossilized. we've discovered fossils of feathers, even whole dinosaurs and fossils of worms, jellyfish, and octopi.
we can also find evidence in amber, of all places,,,,,an entire baby bird was discovered trapped in it once! not to mention more recent finds from the ice age of whole animals frozen in time, complete with their soft tissues intact.
here's some links so you can see :D
octopus:
https://www.icr.org/article/mystery-octopus-fossils
whole nodosaur:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery
baby bird in amber:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/baby-bird-dinosaur-burmese-amber-fossil
feathers:
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/03/09/science/09dinosaur_span/09dinosaur_span-jumbo.jpg
ice age puppies:
https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/ice-age-puppies/
it's true that bones are the easiest and most common things to find. they last longer than soft tissues and are harder to be broken down by the elements. a majority of evidence about extinct animals comes from them.
there are some cases, though, where softer tissues, footprints, or even feces has been fossilized. we've discovered fossils of feathers, even whole dinosaurs and fossils of worms, jellyfish, and octopi.
we can also find evidence in amber, of all places,,,,,an entire baby bird was discovered trapped in it once! not to mention more recent finds from the ice age of whole animals frozen in time, complete with their soft tissues intact.
here's some links so you can see :D
octopus:
https://www.icr.org/article/mystery-octopus-fossils
whole nodosaur:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery
baby bird in amber:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/baby-bird-dinosaur-burmese-amber-fossil
feathers:
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/03/09/science/09dinosaur_span/09dinosaur_span-jumbo.jpg
ice age puppies:
https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/ice-age-puppies/