Class notes
Summary lectures 1/4 Paleontology fauna
- Course
- Institution
Lectures 1/4 summarized including pictures
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
zitaswagten
Reviews received
Content preview
Lecture 1: Introduction palaeontologyPalaeontology = the science of old/ancient beings.
Fossils = any evidence of past life
Taphonomy = from the moment a being dies to when it is fossilized and
found. Only a small proportion of the organisms (biocoenosis) are preserved.
Of which only a part is now exposed (thantocoenosisis). See diagram.
Kind of fossils:
- Body fossils: in amber (insects and spiders), ammonites, carboniferous plants, complete
skeletons, bones and teeth, feather imprints and soft tissue preservation.
- Trace fossils: crawling traces, footprints, trackways, coprolite (fossilized shit)
Fossil information hidden within
- Histology: e.g. tree rings
- Stable isotopes
- Molecular fossils (paleoproteomics): e.g. proteins say something about DNA, of which only
the last part of history has DNA preserved (1/2 million years and proteins 1 million years).
Use of fossils:
- Taxonomy: ordering and naming fossil groups.
o Eukaryotes: have a nucleus: animals, plants, fungi and protists
o Archeans: have no nucleus and a single cell membrane
o Bacteria: have no nucleus
Classification based on clades ( = a group consisting of an ancestor and all its descendants
(branch on the tree of life))
o Monophyletic group: consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor
o Paraphyletic group: shared common ancestor, but not all the descendants included
o Polyphyletic group: grouped together, but do not share an immediate common
ancestor (homoplasy)
- Stratigraphy: erosion, transport, deposition.
Steno: principles of superposition, original horizontality, original lateral continuity and cross
cutting.
o Lithostratigraphy: defines lithological units on basis of observable rock characteristics
o Biostratigraphy: uses fossils in correlating lithostratigraphical units.
- Paleoenvironmental reconstruction: paleobiology, evolution, where do they live, what do
they eat etc. “the present is the key to the past”
, Geological time scale
Chronostratigraphic units: division of rock based on time (Upper and Lower)
Geochronologic units: division of time during which each chronostratigraphic units was formed (Early
and Late)
Lecture 2: Time, biodiversity and enviroment
An ideal GSSP would:
- Be accesible to research
- Be extensive enough to ensure future access
- Be easily related to other exposures worldwide
- Contain a radiometrically datable bed at the boundary
- Include well defined markers at the stage boundary that can be applied worldwide
Dating:
1. Biostratigraphy: relative age: FO en LO, index
fossils
2. Magnetostratigraphy: ~ abolute age: flipping
north and south pole
3. Radioistopes: abosolute age: natural radioactivity
preserved in sediment. If you know the ratio
between two isotopes, you know the age by use
of the half-life
4. Cyclostratigraphy: ~absolute age: eccentricity:
cycles vs ellips, obliquity: angle of earth and
precession: seasonality → insolation curve
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller zitaswagten. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.44. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
62491 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now