Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains of a prehistoric plant or animal, encased in rock over thousands of years. Fossils in the can be found on occasion around the player's town, buried under the soil with a tell-tale crack in the ground above it. Unidentified fossils can be dug up with a shovel; it can be taken to the museum or mailed for identification, sold, placed in a house, used in DIY recipes in, or discarded.

In and, the fossils must each be individually mailed to the Farway Museum, which is located outside the player's town, for identification. In, , and , it can be identified by Blathers, the curator, free of charge. Upon being identified, it can be donated or returned to the player's inventory. In Wild World, there are 52 fossils to be collected, all forming a part of a dinosaur, early mammal, aquatic reptile, or an entire, yet smaller, fossil. After being completed, Blathers gives a small talk on the finished fossil, while the fossil itself has its scientific name and the period in history that it lived in written next to the exhibit.

On average, players can find three fossils in their town per day, provided there is enough space for them to spawn. In, four fossils tend to spawn each day. Other items such as pitfall seeds may also be buried underground. In, four fossils spawn each day on the Player's island. Fossils may also be found on island tours.

Fossils as furniture items
Fossils may also be displayed in the player's house and provide large boosts for HRA scoring and the player's bell funds. Stand alone fossils (trilobite, egg, amber, etc.) provide small boosts, skulls provide a big boost, and a completed skeleton gives the highest boost. As furniture, all fossils have either Old School (Wild World), Retro (City Folk), or Quirky (New Leaf) genres. If players have all the parts of a fossil, they can optionally take it to Cyrus and have him shrink the fossil to a mini figure that takes only one square and can be displayed on a table.