EOSC 116 MODULE A SOLVED 100%
CORRECT VERIFIED 2025
Biostratigraphy - ANSWER-Biostratigraphy: based on the principles of stratigraphy as it
relates to the passage of geological time.
- Leonardo da Vinci was probably one of the first people to understand that fossils were
the remains of once living organisms but it was an English engineer, William Smith
(1769-1839) who recognized its importance in stratigraphy.
Biostratigraphy uses the appearance and disappearance of life to subdivide geological
time and then correlate these subdivisions of time across the Earth.
Deep time - ANSWER-an understanding of the vast depths of geological time helps us
understand how continents can drift, then mountain ranges form, only to be eroded back
to a flat plain; or how creatures such as dinosaurs can evolve, inhabit the planet, and
ultimately suffer decline and extinction.
define mantle plumes - ANSWER-Mantle plumes are an unusual situation where
localized sources of magma (called hotspots) from very deep in the mantle, produce
large volumes of magma that rise to the surface and erupt as very large isolated
volcanoes or chains of volcanoes.
Define subduction - ANSWER-When one lithospheric plate is pushed down under
another plate
define taphonomy - ANSWER-All processes that occur to a creature prior to it become a
fossil. These processes include decay (necrolysis) and movement of the corpse. -
Necrolysis starts a few minutes after death and will continue until the destruction of the
corpse or until fossilization. The factors that will determine the degree of necrolysis
include:
1. the supply of oxygen. The less oxygen available, the fewer scavengers and microbes
can exist. Examples of low oxygen environments are swamps, and at bottom of some
large bodies of water such as the Black Sea.
2. pH extremes. A good example of areas that experience extremes in pH are peat
bogs. These areas can be extremely acidic and effectively transform flesh into a kind of
leather.
3. temperature. The lower the temperature, the less microbial activity occurs and the
more decay is prevented.
nature of the organic carbon. Organic material such as fats and muscle will decay
relatively rapidly. Other types of organic carbon, for example cellulose in plants, will
decay more slowly.
- movement of the corpse (also called biostratinomy). Corpses may be moved by
scavengers or by physical processes such as wind and water transport.
, In addition to necrolysis and biostratinomy, the environment which the creature
inhabited (the paleoenvironment) will have a large bearing on fossilization potential. In
general creatures that live in water have a much better chance of being preserved as
fossils compared to land creatures. This is mostly due to the fact that creatures that live
in bodies of water have a much greater chance of being covered by sediment and/or
transported to low oxygen environments, which increase the chances of them becoming
fossilized. A land-based corpse is much more likely to lie exposed on the surface and
therefore be more at risk from scavengers, certain physical processes, and the de
Describe and give an example of developmental morphology - ANSWER-Sometimes it
can be difficult for the paleontologist to determine if a population of fossils represents
one species at different stages of development or a group of different species.
Imagine the problems extraterrestrial paleontologists may have in the future if they
come across human fossils and no living humans could be found on planet Earth. Here
are just some of the differences we can find in our own species:
Humans that live in hot arid climates tend to be tall and long limbed (for example the
Maasai people of Africa) whereas humans adapted to cold conditions tend to be shorter
and squatter (for example the Inuit peoples in arctic areas).
There are also obvious differences between the sexes, with men tending to be larger
and women having adaptations in the pelvis for childbirth.
Fossils of children would also look quite different from adults.
Aside from the obvious size differences, babies have a different proportion of body parts
with the head being much larger when compared to the rest of the body than adults.
A fossil example can be drawn from ostracods. Ostracods are small crustaceans that
secrete a bivalved shell around them. Like all crustaceans, these creatures (and their
fossil relatives) grow by shedding their old external skeleton and growing into a new
larger one. As a result each ostracod can produce a whole series of different sized
shells through its life cycle from juvenile to adult. In addition, female ostracods often
posses brood pouches where eggs are stored. These can make the external shell of a
female ostracod look very different to that of a male.
Developmental morphology is an important factor that paleontologists have to consider
if they are to accurately determine the biodiversity and biological composition of ancient
environments.
DEscribe and give an example of functional morphology - ANSWER-Some fossils are
quite obvious in terms of their function. For example, the bones of a leg of a dinosaur
are quite obviously designed to let the creature walk or run. However problems can
arise when there are no known creatures that are similar to the fossil under study. This
makes consideration of any analogous behaviour quite difficult.
An example of such a strange and troublesome creature is Hallucigenia. It lived in the
Earth's equatorial oceans during the Middle Cambrian. As nothing like Hallucigenia is
CORRECT VERIFIED 2025
Biostratigraphy - ANSWER-Biostratigraphy: based on the principles of stratigraphy as it
relates to the passage of geological time.
- Leonardo da Vinci was probably one of the first people to understand that fossils were
the remains of once living organisms but it was an English engineer, William Smith
(1769-1839) who recognized its importance in stratigraphy.
Biostratigraphy uses the appearance and disappearance of life to subdivide geological
time and then correlate these subdivisions of time across the Earth.
Deep time - ANSWER-an understanding of the vast depths of geological time helps us
understand how continents can drift, then mountain ranges form, only to be eroded back
to a flat plain; or how creatures such as dinosaurs can evolve, inhabit the planet, and
ultimately suffer decline and extinction.
define mantle plumes - ANSWER-Mantle plumes are an unusual situation where
localized sources of magma (called hotspots) from very deep in the mantle, produce
large volumes of magma that rise to the surface and erupt as very large isolated
volcanoes or chains of volcanoes.
Define subduction - ANSWER-When one lithospheric plate is pushed down under
another plate
define taphonomy - ANSWER-All processes that occur to a creature prior to it become a
fossil. These processes include decay (necrolysis) and movement of the corpse. -
Necrolysis starts a few minutes after death and will continue until the destruction of the
corpse or until fossilization. The factors that will determine the degree of necrolysis
include:
1. the supply of oxygen. The less oxygen available, the fewer scavengers and microbes
can exist. Examples of low oxygen environments are swamps, and at bottom of some
large bodies of water such as the Black Sea.
2. pH extremes. A good example of areas that experience extremes in pH are peat
bogs. These areas can be extremely acidic and effectively transform flesh into a kind of
leather.
3. temperature. The lower the temperature, the less microbial activity occurs and the
more decay is prevented.
nature of the organic carbon. Organic material such as fats and muscle will decay
relatively rapidly. Other types of organic carbon, for example cellulose in plants, will
decay more slowly.
- movement of the corpse (also called biostratinomy). Corpses may be moved by
scavengers or by physical processes such as wind and water transport.
, In addition to necrolysis and biostratinomy, the environment which the creature
inhabited (the paleoenvironment) will have a large bearing on fossilization potential. In
general creatures that live in water have a much better chance of being preserved as
fossils compared to land creatures. This is mostly due to the fact that creatures that live
in bodies of water have a much greater chance of being covered by sediment and/or
transported to low oxygen environments, which increase the chances of them becoming
fossilized. A land-based corpse is much more likely to lie exposed on the surface and
therefore be more at risk from scavengers, certain physical processes, and the de
Describe and give an example of developmental morphology - ANSWER-Sometimes it
can be difficult for the paleontologist to determine if a population of fossils represents
one species at different stages of development or a group of different species.
Imagine the problems extraterrestrial paleontologists may have in the future if they
come across human fossils and no living humans could be found on planet Earth. Here
are just some of the differences we can find in our own species:
Humans that live in hot arid climates tend to be tall and long limbed (for example the
Maasai people of Africa) whereas humans adapted to cold conditions tend to be shorter
and squatter (for example the Inuit peoples in arctic areas).
There are also obvious differences between the sexes, with men tending to be larger
and women having adaptations in the pelvis for childbirth.
Fossils of children would also look quite different from adults.
Aside from the obvious size differences, babies have a different proportion of body parts
with the head being much larger when compared to the rest of the body than adults.
A fossil example can be drawn from ostracods. Ostracods are small crustaceans that
secrete a bivalved shell around them. Like all crustaceans, these creatures (and their
fossil relatives) grow by shedding their old external skeleton and growing into a new
larger one. As a result each ostracod can produce a whole series of different sized
shells through its life cycle from juvenile to adult. In addition, female ostracods often
posses brood pouches where eggs are stored. These can make the external shell of a
female ostracod look very different to that of a male.
Developmental morphology is an important factor that paleontologists have to consider
if they are to accurately determine the biodiversity and biological composition of ancient
environments.
DEscribe and give an example of functional morphology - ANSWER-Some fossils are
quite obvious in terms of their function. For example, the bones of a leg of a dinosaur
are quite obviously designed to let the creature walk or run. However problems can
arise when there are no known creatures that are similar to the fossil under study. This
makes consideration of any analogous behaviour quite difficult.
An example of such a strange and troublesome creature is Hallucigenia. It lived in the
Earth's equatorial oceans during the Middle Cambrian. As nothing like Hallucigenia is
