Principles of Paleontology

What is a Fossil?
Old? How old? Made of Rock? Modes of Preservation Remains of Living Things

Why study Fossils?

Aspects of Paleontology
Taxonomy Evolution Paleoenvironment Paleoecology Paleogeography Biostratigraphy Geology Fossil record

Taxonomy

Linneas
Binomial Nomenclature Identification of species, plant and animal Naming of all living species International codes

Principles of Taxonomy
Principle of Species: All individual living things belong to species, groups within which they are more closely related to one another than to individuals of another species. Principle of Taxonomy: Living things can be classified into a hierarchical system that reflects their natural degree of relationship.

Evolution Charles Darwin

Evolution Natural Selection Origin of Species

Principles of Evolution
Principle of Evolution: Living things have evolved through time in an orderly fashion, without repetition or reversal, to produce modern life. Principle of Natural Selection : Organisms that inherit favorable variations for their immediate environment will tend to survive more often than others.

Principles of Evolution
Principle of the Origin of Species: Species originate by evolution from pre-existing forms by means of natural selection.

Paleoenvironment Georges Cuvier

Functional Morphology Extinction

Correlation of Parts and Extinction

Law of correlation of parts aka principle of paleoenvironment: Morphology of the parts of an organism reflects the functioning of those parts in the environment. Principle of Extinction: All species eventually become extinct. Extinction is the rule, not the exception.

Principles of Paleoecology
James Valentine

Steven Stanley

Communities Provinces Functional Morphology

Principle of Paleoecology
Principle of Paleoecology: Fossil organisms were adapted to their environments, therefore a fossil assemblage can b e interpreted as representing a certain paleoenvironment.

Principles of Biogeography
Alfred Russel Wallace Wallaces Line Biogeography Natural Selection

Principle of Biogeography
Principle of Biogeography: Organisms are distributed geographically in patterns which reflect their adaptations and history.

Biostratigraphy
James Hutton
1726-97

Principles of Geology Uniformitarianism

Scope of Geologic Time

Biostratigraphy
Principle of Uniformitarianism: Given enough time, the history of the earth can be interpreted from rocks on the basis of present day processes. Natural laws dont change with time. The present is the key to the past.

Biostratigraphy
Nicholas Steno (1638 - 1686)
Fossils = Remains of Living Things Principle of Superposition

Biostratigraphy
Principle of Superposition: In an undisturbed sequence of strata, the oldest rock is on the bottom and the layers become successively younger toward the top, which is the youngest.

Biostratigraphy
William Smith 1769 1839) First Geologic Map Principle of Fossil Succession
aka

Law of Faunal Succession

Biostratigraphy

Principle of Fossil Succession: Fossils occur in an orderly sequence such that a layer of strata may be identified and positioned in the sequence according to its fossil content.

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