Question

an animal dies in mud, decomposes, and leaves an imprint, which is later filled by sediment to form a solid copy of the original organism. how is this fossil different from fossils of preserved remains? only hard tissue is preserved. hard and soft tissues are preserved. only soft tissue is preserved. there is little change to the preserved organism.

Explanation:

The fossil described is a mold - cast fossil (formed from an imprint filled with sediment). Fossils of preserved remains usually involve actual parts of the organism (like bones, shells for hard parts or rare soft tissue preservation). In this case, the fossil is a copy, so there's little change to the preserved "organism" (the cast) compared to fossils with actual remains (which may have more alteration or be actual tissues). The other options are incorrect: "Only hard tissue is preserved" and "Only soft tissue is preserved" don't apply as this is a cast, not preservation of original tissues; "Hard and soft tissues are preserved" is also wrong for the same reason.

Answer:

There is little change to the preserved organism.