Un fósil director, fósil guía, fósil índice o fósil característico es un resto paleontológico o arqueológico cuya presencia puede servir para datar con cierta precisión la unidad estratigráfica en la que se encuentra debido a que son particulares o exclusivos de una determinada época de la historia geológica, o de la Prehistoria, o indicadores de un determinado paleoambiente. Por lo general, los taxones o modos culturales del pasado que dieron lugar a los fósiles guía tuvieron una duración muy corta a escala geológica —o histórica—, lo que hace que su presencia se limite a unas coordenadas cronológicas —o culturales, en el caso de las culturas prehistóricas—, muy limitadas. Es decir, que si aparece un fósil guía en un estrato, dicho estrato puede ser datado con bastante exactitud. Sin embargo, en bioestratigrafía se utilizan biozonas, unidades estratigráficas que en algunos casos aportan mejor resolución temporal que la proporcionada por un único taxón.

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Index fossils (also known as guide fossils, indicator fossils or zone fossils) are fossils used to define and identify geologic periods (or faunal stages). They work on the premise that, although different sediments may look different depending on the conditions under which they were laid down, they may include the remains of the same species of fossil. If the species concerned were short-lived (in geological terms, lasting a few hundred thousand years), then it is certain that the sediments in question were deposited within that narrow time period. The shorter the lifespan of a species, the more precisely different sediments can be correlated, and so rapidly evolving types of fossils are particularly valuable. The best index fossils are common, easy-to-identify at species level, and have a broad distribution—otherwise the likelihood of finding and recognizing one in the two sediments is minor. Ammonites fit these demands well, and are the best-known fossils that have been widely used for this. Other important groups that provide index fossils are the corals, graptolites, brachiopods, trilobites, and echinoids (sea urchins). Conodonts may be identified by experts using light microscopy such that they can be used to index a given sample with good resolution. Fossilized teeth of mammals have also been used. Geologists use both large fossils (called macrofossils) and microscopic fossils (called microfossils) for this process, known as biostratigraphy. Macrofossils have the advantage of being easy to see in the field, but they are rarer, and microfossils are very commonly used by oil prospectors and other industries interested in mineral resources when accurate knowledge of the age of the rocks being looked at is needed. The series of deposits that spans the occurrence of a particular index fossil, is often referred to as that fossil's zone, enabling to relate different faunas through time. An example would be to say that Mesolenellus hyperborea occurs in the late Nevadella-zone.

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