Although a trace fossil is not a preservation of the specimen itself, the trace fossil may be the only evidence for a researcher to utilize in the field.  Conditions do arise in which hard parts are not preserved due to overlying factors within the depositional and preservational environment.  In some cases preservation of body fossils may not be possible  yet the trace fossils are well preserved.
 

Some instances and benefits may include:

• shallow high energy environments, shallow marine sandstones, and deep marine shales normally too harsh an environment for body fossil preservation
• no body or body parts to be transported, therefore excellent for analysis of  primary sedimentary environments
• processes of diagenesis, clastic sedimentary units which can heighten the relief of the trace fossil
• trace fossils occur over long periods of time due to the fact that they are made by ãsimilar organisms with similar behaviorsä, a good indicator for broad periods of environmental change
• trace fossils are more abundant than the organism's body fossil, an organism can repeatedly produce them in one life span

• biogenic sedimentary structures; footprints, trackways, and burrows are examples of structures formed in unconsolidated material
• bioerosion or bioturbation; borings are examples of sediment being altered by the actions of the organism
• paleodiets of extinct species; coprolites not only tell us about their diets but they also; provide additional  information so that we can reconstruct ecosystem relationships of fossil plants and animals
• procreative behavior; eggs and nests display proof that certain species reproduced sexually and constructed structures for the development and shelter of their offspring