Is a fossil in a rock a grain?

Question

sedimentary rock with fossils,,ae these classed as a type of grain

thanks

Answer 1

Sometimes:  Some fossils are clasts, or grains, in a rock.  However, often a fossil takes the form of a mould or cast - an impression of the item that was there, but has since been dissolved, and in this case it is not a grain.  A fossil is any trace of organic life in a rock - including tracks and burrows, impressions like leaf impression and shells and other hard parts.  A fossil can only be regarded as a clast or grain if it still has its original form, as in shells and shelly debris which persist in the rock.  Some limestones for instance consist almost entirely of the tests of micro-organisms like foraminifera - in this case the microfossil is also a grain.

Answer 2

The question doesn't actually make sense.  Sedimentary rock is made up from lots of particles.  They form the grain of the rock

Answer 3

I've not really though of this before, but I would say, YES - Sally's answer is excellent, some sedimentary rocks such as a shelly limestome have a large part of the clasts (or, I suppose, one could stretch this to call them "grains" but I suspect the setter of the question wants you to descrbe what makes up the conglomerate.

A link to the pic would be nice