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 described fossil is a cast/mold, formed from an imprint filled with sediment—only the hard tissue (which creates the durable imprint) is represented. Fossils of preserved remains retain original hard/soft tissues with little change, so this fossil differs by only preserving hard tissue traces.

Answer:

Only hard tissue is preserved.