Beruflich Dokumente
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Lectures 1 to 5
(through Adaptation & Functional Morphology)
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Species longevity
Taxonomic turnover
Modes of preservation
1. Unaltered
2. Altered
Mass extinctions
Episodes of elevated rates of
extinction have occurred, more
than once. Are they periodic?
Permineralization
Recrystallization
Dissolution & Replacement
Carbonization
Biological Characteristics
that make it more, or less, likely to be preserved
in the fossil record:
Anatomical
What are skeletons made of?
Ecological
How do organisms make skeletons?
Biogeographical
Uniformitariansim
The present is the key to the past
1. Organic
Proteins
Polysaccharides
2. Inorganic
Mostly crystalline (atoms arranged in a highly
ordered, repeating pattern)
Formed both intracellularly and extracellularly
Most enclose or are enclosed by an organic matrix
Composed of major elements, minor elements,
Principle of Superposition
Geological Characteristics
that make an organism more, or less,
likely to be preserved and discovered in the fossil record:
Depositional environment
Geological history
Time
Discovery
Relative methods:
Relative
order of
events
Numerical
ages of
events
Pattern
Rocks
Fossils
Process
Superposition Uniformitarianism
Steno 1669
Faunal
succession
Natural
selection
Darwin 1859
(~99%)
(~1%)
DEATH
Chemical
Physical
bacterial decay
borers
scavengers
dissolution
mummification
abrasion
borings
disarticulation
transport
BURIAL
oxygen
recrystallization
permineralization
carbonization
replacement
DISCOVERY
Types of growth
All organisms with a mineralized skeleton
must enlarge the skeleton to accommodate the
growth of soft tissues
Addition
Change
Variation in organisms
Quantify
size
and
Shape
=
Morphometrics
Allometry
:growth of a part of an organism in relation to
Natural selection
environment
in large populations
Rationale:
Similarity in morphology represents underlying genetic cohesion
Allopatric speciation
Geographic isolation
Parapatric speciation
Partial geographic isolation
Sympatric speciation
No geographic isolation
Phylogenetic systematics
(Hennig, 1966)
Characters
Phylogenetic hypotheses (cladograms or evolutionary trees)
evolution
Primitive (plesiomorphic) = ancestral, more general
Derived (apomorphic) = more specific
Characters
Abundant characters
Only four character states possible
Relatively easy to analyze computationally (now)
What is adaptation?
Adaptation concerns the
fit of an organism to its environment;
the appropriateness of design of an organism for the
environment (physical, chemical, biological)
in which it lives
How does adaptation work?
(Most) adaptations arise through
the process of natural selection
Scaling Effects
Interpret allometry to be a result
(effect) of size-dependent
scaling in certain
physical/chemical parameters
Larger animals
Smaller
Heat loss
Heat generation
Gigantothermy
historical factor
PHYLOGENY
Thomas (1978)
What a structure is
made of (minerals, soft
tissues) and how it is
built (growth and
development)
ADAPTATION
functional factor
GROWTH
morphogenetic factor
Structure
Function
Structure
Structure
Structure
Structure
Function
Function
Function
Function
Morphospace
Simplified depiction of complex
shape variations using selected
variables (measurements)