Geology 315
INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY & PALEOECOLOGY
Lectures, Exams, Student Presentations
and Reading Assignments

Textbook: Prothero, D.R. 1998. Bringing Fossils to Life. 2nd ed. Mcgraw-Hill.

+ Additional Readings **(see below)
+ "Ecological Services" Exposé (ESE) *(see below)


I. INTRODUCTION TO PALEONTOLOGY     Reading
Course introduction Preface
Understanding the fossil record vii-viii; Ch. 1, Art. 1
Taxonomy & diversity: invert classification I Ch. 2-4; H/w
Invertebrate classification II Disc. of h/w

II. MARINE ECOLOGY AND PALEOECOLOGY

Marine ecosystems and trophic relationships Ch. 8:119-137
Fossils as paleoenvironmental indicators Art. 2
Required Saturday Field Trip Geer Road & Ithaca
Taphonomy and paleocommunities Ch. 1, 8; Art. 3

III. ORIGIN OF LIFE

Precambrian biotas Ch. 11:190-191, Ch, 19: 437-440; Art. 4-5
Origin of metazoans Art. 6-7
Porifera Ch. 12, Ch, 7: 108-110
Student Presentations click here for list of readings

IV. CAMBRIAN BIOTAS

Annelids Art. 8
Arthropods/b> Ch. 14
***Mark Leckie brown-bag seminar*** 11:30 am
Communities I: Burgess Shale fauna Ch. 1:15, Art. 9-10
Burgess Shale (video)  

V. PROTISTS AND CNIDARIA

Microfossils I: single-celled organisms Ch. 11, Art. 11
Coloniality in Cnidaria Ch. 12
Student Presentations click here for list of readings
Communities II: ancient v. modern reefs Ch. 8:138-139, Ch. 12:227-229; Art. 12-13
Catch-up; review  
MIDTERM EXAM  
FALL BREAK  

VI. LOPHOPHORATES

Bryozoa Ch. 13
Brachiopods & Communities III: Onshore-offshore trends Ch. 13, Ch. 8:143; Art. 14

VII. PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY

Climate and diversity
+ ***Tim Flannery Colloquium***		 Ch. 9
7:30 pm
Plate tectonics and paleobiogeography I Ch. 8:141-144; Ch. 9
***Videoconference with Randal Keynes*** 3:30 pm
Plate tectonics and paleobiogeography II Ch. 8:141-144; Ch. 9

VIII. MOLLUSCA

"Incredible Suckers"--cephalopod video Art. 17
No class GSA meeting
Bivalves Ch. 15, Ch. 7:110-111; Art. 15
Cephalopods Ch. 15; Art. 16
Gastropods I Ch. 15, Art. 17
Gastropods II Ch. 15, Art. 17

IX. EVOLUTION AND EXTINCTION

Principles, patterns, and rates of evolution Ch. 5
Speciation and extinction Ch. 3, 5-6
Student Presentations click here for list of readings
Mass extinctions Ch. 6
Thanksgiving  
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X. ECHINODERMS AND ICHNOFOSSILS

Echinoids & Echinoderms & Crinoids Ch. 16
Trace fossils Ch. 18
Communities V: Ichnofacies & diversification
of behaviors in marine habitats		 Ch. 8:143-147; Art. 18

XI. MICROFOSSILS II

Student Presentations click here for list of readings
Graptolites Ch. 17
Conodonts & biostratigraphic applications Ch. 10, 17
FINAL EXAMS (self scheduled) comprehensive

 

 

"Ecological Services" Exposé (ESE)

    At the beginning of one class, each of you will be responsible for giving a 2-3 minute exposé about the "ecological services" provided by a particular group of invertebrates. Do NOT give an exposé about the biology of your group; instead you should be prepared to discuss informally how humans benefit from (indeed rely upon) the "flows of materials, energy, and information derived from natural capital stocks." Use of visual aids (e.g., overhead or shortie Power Pt.) is strongly recommended. Please note that the date you select will be the earliest day for your exposé--but it could be later to allow for flexibility in classroom discussions on preceding topics.

Additional Readings (on reserve in the science library)

Please do not make any pencil or pen marks or highlightings in any of the reading assignments.
Students will be charged for any damage done to classroom materials!

1:   Briggs, D.E.G. 1991. Extraordinary fossils. American Scientist, 79:130-136; OR
      READ: Briggs, D.E.G. 2003. Exceptionally preserved fossils, in Briggs & Crowther:328-332.

2:   Newton & Laporte. Chapter 4--Organisms and environments:57-80.

3:   Dodd & Stanton. [Chapter 7]--Taphonomy:223-252; SCAN:252-276.

4:   Awramik, S.M. 1981. The pre-Phanerozoic biosphere - three billion years of crises and
      opportunities:83-102, in M.H. Nitecki (ed.). Biotic Crises in Ecological and Evolutionary
      Time. Academic Press (New York).; OR READ: Buick, R. 2003. Life in the Archaean,
      in Briggs & Crowther:25-31.

5:   Walter, M.R. 2003. Stromatolites, in Briggs & Crowther:376-379.

6:   Fedonkin, M.A. 1990. Precambrian metazoans, in Briggs & Crowther:17-24.

7:   Levinton, J.S. 1992. The big bang of animal evolution. Sci. American, 267:84-91.

8:   Boardman, Cheetham & Rowell. Chapter 12--Annelida:194-204.

9:   Morris, S.C. 1989. Burgess Shale faunas and the Cambrian explosion. Science, 246:339-346;
      AND READ: Gould, S.J. 1989. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History.
      Chapter 3--Reconstruction of the Burgess Shale; 207-212; SCAN: 218-239.

10: Erwin, D.H. 2003. Metazoan origins and early evolution, in Briggs & Crowther:13-21.

11: Hallock, P. 1985. Future farmers of the sea. Natural History, 3:60-67.

12: Wood, R.A. 2003. Evolution of reefs, in Briggs & Crowther:57-62.

13: James, N.P. and Macintyre, I.G. 1985. Carbonate depositional environments, Part I: reefs.
      Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, 80 (3). Introduction:1-3; The nature of fossil
      reefs:21-24; The structure of fossil reefs, 25-30; Geologic history of reefs, 37-47.

14: Sepkoski, J.J., Jr. and Sheehan, P.M. 1983. Diversification, faunal change, and community
      replacement during the Ordovician radiations:673-680, 697-706 (SCAN or SKIP discussion
      on modeling and analytical methodology, pages 680-687). In M.J.S Tevesz and P.L. McCall
      (eds.). Biotic Interaction in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities; AND READ:
     Miller, A.I. 2003. Ordovician radiation, in Briggs & Crowther:49-52.

15: Stanley, S.M. 1968. Post-Paleozoic adaptive radiation of infaunal bivalve molluscs- a
      consequence of mantle fusion and siphon formation. Journal of Paleontology, 42:214-229.

16: Ward, P.D. 1982. Nautilus: have shell, will float. Natural History, 91:64-69.

17: Linsley, R.M. 1978. Shell form and the evolution of gastropods. American Scientist,
      66:432-441; OR READ: Linsley, R.M. 1977. Some "laws" of gastropod shell form.
      Paleobiology, 3:196-206.

18: Ausich, W.I. and Bottjer, D.J. 1991. History of tiering among suspension feeders in the
      benthic marine ecosystem. Journal of Geological Education, 39:313-318.


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