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Paleobiology > Palaeobiology > Flashcards

Palaeobiology Flashcards

1
Q

Definition: The branch of palaeontology that deals with the processes of fossilization

A

Taphonomy

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2
Q

Definition: The physical and chemical processes that affect sedimentary materials after deposition

A

Diagenesis

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3
Q

To be a fossil, an organism must:
1. Die and avoid destruction
2. Be in an environment where they can be buried
3. Be fossilized
4. Avoid d—— or m——- processes
5. Avoid e—–
6. Become e—— and discovered

A

diagenetic, metamorphic,
erosion, exposed

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4
Q

Fossils can have a n—— cast (rarer) or an i—– cast

A

natural, internal

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5
Q

Why is the fossil record incomplete?
1. S—— only accumulates on small area of Earth
2. Only small amount of organisms fossilized
3. Most d——— with the rock they are in
4. Only a t— fraction found & studied

A

sediment, destroyed, tiny

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6
Q

Why is the fossil record biased?
1. Certain o——- parts preserve better
2. Certain e——— preserve better
3. O—- rock more likely to be destoryed
4. C——— bias ie. First-world countried

A

Organism(s), environments, older, collector

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7
Q

Which kingdom leaves these parts fossilized?
Stromatolites and certain bacterial sheathes

A

Bacteria

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8
Q

Which kingdom leaves these parts fossilized? Those with an exo or endoskeleton.

A

Protists (single-celled living things)

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9
Q

Which kingdom leaves these parts fossilized? Woody tissues made of lignin. Cuticles made of Cutan. Spores known as sporopollenin.

A

Plants

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10
Q

Which kingdom leaves these parts fossilized? Chitnous spores and hyphae. Unfortunately these are often similar across species and the ‘useful’ part is lost.

A

Fungi

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11
Q

Which kingdom leaves these parts fossilized? Those with recalcitrant exo and endoskeletons

A

Animals

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12
Q

In which environments do sediments accumulate?
- C——– S—-.
- Rarely in deep sea r– c— from the atmosphere
- OCCASIONALLY in inland f—– in the mountains

A

continental shelves, red clay, faults

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13
Q

Large-scale biases of fossil distribution:
1. S–Level changes
2. Continental c——-. More s—- when continents SPLIT
3. Atmospheric composition. More o—— = more composition

A

sea, configuration, shelf, oxygen

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14
Q

Definition: It is probable that patterns in the fossil record reflect both biological and geological signals. We must therefore understand the geological signals

A

The common cause hypothesis

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15
Q

How to interpret the fossil record;
- Plot s—– and t——- distribution of fossils
- Consider g— ranges where fossilization didn’t occur
- Consider probabilities of r— extensions
- Analyze volume of r— depositied per time slice and the e——- area of rock per time slice

A

spatial, temporal, ghost, range, rock, exposed

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16
Q

The fossil record is GOOD to:
- Give us a t—f—- for evolution
- Tells us what organisms e——- from and what wetn e—– / why it did

A

time-frame, evolved, extinct

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17
Q

Dinosaurs are GOOD to study due to having b—- and t—- but BAD as a lot were t——–

A

bones, teeth, terrestrial

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18
Q

Dinosaurs first evolved in the T—— and lived through the Jurassic and the C———

A

Triassic, Cretaceous

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19
Q

What is a Fossil-Lagerstatten?

A

a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues.

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20
Q

What are the two types of fossil-lagerstatten?
1. ———- deposits such as bone beds, mass kills and strand deposits
2. ——- deposits where preservation is of unusual quality

A

Concentration (where fossils occur in unusual concentrations), Conservation

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21
Q

What can create a bone bed?

A

A landslide

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22
Q

What can create a mass kill?

A

A pond drying out or something

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23
Q

What creates a strand line deposit?

A

The tide

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24
Q

What are the 3 basic types of conservation deposits?
1. Preservation of o—— which aren’t usuually preserved.
2. Preservation of p—- of organisms which aren’t usually preserved (skin)
3. Organisms preserved in unusually a———- or unusual configurations (ichthysaur giving birth)

A

organisms, parts, articulation

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25
Q

What is this a definition of?
The reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants. It includes burrowing, ingestion, and defecation of sediment grains.

A

(a) bioturbator

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26
Q

Give 2 major controls for exceptional preservation. Why may they be no bioturbadors?

A
  • No scavanegers and bioturbators, perhaps due to anoxia, rapid burial or elevated salinity
  • Unusual chemical environment permitting exceptional preservation. May be due to a catastrophic event or bacteria producing certain chemicals
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27
Q

During deposition, the formation of ——- and/or ——— mats may help preservationq

A

Nodules, microbial. Stabilized sediments may set up geochemical gradients that promote early mineralizations.

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28
Q

Give the 6 conservation traps that we learnt about. What is a hot silicious spring?

A
  1. Amber
  2. Ice- Ice only goes back about 1 million years.
  3. Tar Pits - La Brea tarpits in LA from the Pleistocene.
  4. Hot Silicious springs- Water is so hot it dissolves silicate, This silica traps all plants around it.l
  5. Tufa - In a limestone environment. Slightly acidic rain dissolves limestone and forms stalagmites.
  6. Ash falls - pyroclastic flows. Very fast. This happened in pompeii
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29
Q

What is preserved well in ice?

A

Meat. Can show forms that bones alone cannot

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30
Q

What is preserved well in amber?

A

Insects and small creatures

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31
Q

What is preserved well in tar pits?

A

Bones.

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32
Q

What is preserved well in hot silicious springs?

A

Single-cells can be!

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33
Q

What is preserved in Tufa?

A

Birds nests and things!! in caves

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34
Q

The process of exceptional preservation.
1. Burial
2. W— pushed out by pressure
3. M——- left behind.
4. Organism can d—– in the water. Gap filled with precipitated minerals

A

Water, minerals, dissolve

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35
Q

In prservation, occasionally loads of m—— is precipitated out to form a n—–

A

mineral, nodule

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36
Q

Tissues display a spectrum of resistance to decay from re——– tissues to l—— (more soft) tissues such as muscle

A

recalcitrant, labile

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37
Q

Decay proline tissues are only preserved when replicated fast by authigenic minerals which:
1. Precipitate round the tissues and form a c—
2. Precipitate on and within the tissues infilling and potentially preserving actual c—–

A

cast, cells

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38
Q

What is the best mineral for preservation? Where does it come from?

A

Apatite. It can preserve muscle. Is released from phosphate in an organism when it dies.

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39
Q

In the past, p——– levels may have been allowed to build up due to absence of life forms using them, allowing organisms to be perfectly preserved in them.

A

Phosphate

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40
Q

What are authigenic materials?

A

Those which have not moved from the position in which they formed.

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41
Q

Explain how coal allowed for exceptional preservation and why this happened more in warm wet environments. What does coal normally preserve? How could it form in cold environments?

A

Coal minerals can also allow for exceptional preservation, we just don’t aren’t sure how this happened in cold environments, as coal often formed from environments where decomposition was higher, which were once warm and humid where there were lush plants growing. Coal mainly preserves plants and their pollen / spores / cuticles Also more associated with swampy conditions as these would form the environment necessary for its formation.
Could ALSO form in cold environments in peat bogs, permafrost, glaciers or cold water swamps or wetlands

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42
Q

Exceptional preservation can also result from:
- — —– (fools gold)
- Other —– sulphides
- —– in hot springs, especially good for wood
- —— (can form coal balls - a lump of petrified plant matter)

A

iron pyrite, metal, silica, calcite

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43
Q

Give 3 ways in which Fossil-Lagerstatten confuse us

A
  1. False biodiversity peaks
  2. Preferentially occur in certain time periods
  3. Certain environments overrepresented
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44
Q

Example of exceptional preservation: The —– (Cenozoic Period, Germany)
- Created by v—- activity.
- P——– different parts in different organisms
- C– killed things

A

Messel, Volcanic, preserved, C02

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45
Q

Example of exceptional preservatin: ——– state (Devonian period, Germany)
- Iron pyrite and f—- black mud preserved s– organisms and not just their exoskeletons

A

Hunsruck, fetid, sea

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46
Q

Case study of the —– Biota (C———–, China)
- Formed due to volcanic l—- forming a– beds. Ash k——- out organisms leaving them at the base of the lake. F— grain could preserve in detail.
Preserved organisms AS THEY SWAM - behaviour. Told us REAL f—– colours.

A

Jehol, cretaceous, lakes, ash, knocking, fine, feather
Studies by Zhou

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47
Q

Hypsilophodontidae and i——– were a very diverse group of bipedal dinosaurs includeing the h——- (duck-billed) dinosaurs. Were quite intelligent.

A

Iguanodontia, hadrosaurs

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48
Q

The s——- included the odontosauruses and were very big and surprisingly diverse. Form a sister group to the t——–

A

sauropods, theropods

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49
Q

What were the theropods?

A

Bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs. Varied massively in size and were intelligent so as to be dinosaurs.

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50
Q

Birds were the sister group of d———–

A

dromaeosaurids.These had bigger brains to navigate 3D environments Birds are clearly theropods, a monophyletic group.

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51
Q

Time periods were s——— into different stages

A

subdivided

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52
Q

Iron minerals a—- towards the poles. Rocks can be analysed and relative m——— content can show where rocks were in relation to the poles, helping to map intial continental configuration.

A

align, magnesium

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53
Q

Using the position of s———- rocks today can indicate the rock was in a particular e——– initially due to the processes causing that sediment to be deposited there

A

sedimentary, environment

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54
Q

Attaining the original positions of rocks must account for s– level changes

A

sea

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55
Q

T/F To an extent the religious people and assumption that geological processes happened back then were the same was right

A

True (Was not noahs arc and environment HAD changed since then however. People gradually realized this)

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56
Q

Explain the 5 ways in which we can reconstruct past environments?
1. Examining the nature of sediments
2. Using the nature of a rock’s fossil content
3. The distrubution of climactically sensitive sediments and fossils
4. Environmentally discriminating isotopes.
5. Modelling

A
  1. Do this by relating it to today’s landscapes
  2. Using species present as a kind of historical ‘bioindicator’.
  3. Certain sediments only form in certain environments, like coal, bauxite, evaporite etc.
  4. Different composition of certain isotopes like boron form in different conditions of pH / temperature etc.
  5. Study impact of climate today and applying it to past variables. Loses efficiency the further back in time that you travel.
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57
Q

What does the ‘pull of the recent’ describe?

A

The fact it is easier to get data from EXPOSED sites which will tend to be more RECENTLY formed rock

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58
Q

Dinosaurs first appeared when the c——- were together thus there was less b———- variation than later on

A

continents, biogeoraphical

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59
Q

Why is oxygen concentration harder to calculate from past records?

A

Oxygen levels. Oxygen is more reactive so doesn’t leave direct signatures for us to read unlike C02 trapped in ice cores and such. Oxygen also constantly cycled round environment, unlike C02 which can end up stored. Must used proxies like concentrations of certain isotopes to infer it’s presence

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60
Q

Climatically s——– indicators used to guess what world dinosaurs lived in

A

sensitive

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61
Q

Climactically sensitive indicators tell us that the polar dinosaurs lived in a c— and t——— world.

A

Cold, temperate

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62
Q

What do LAGs tell us about the polar dinosaurs

A

Lines of Arrested Growth tell us that the polar dinosaurs did NOT hibernate

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63
Q

What are the ‘strange groups’ found across the construction of the dinosaur phylogenies

A

Charles’ answer: Basically these animals are anatomically strange (with weird primitive characters and missing some derived characters) and therefore fall out as basal within the phylogenies. I believe they form paraphyletic groups, maybee reflecting gaps in the fossil record and our own current understanding

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64
Q

How do we reconstruct an animal from what we find fossilized?

A

Make inferences based on the nearest living relatives . Also flesh it up using exceptional preservation cases and looking at muscle attachement sites on bone.

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65
Q

We can reconstruct extinct species capabilities using b——– and p——. We can also use 3D computer programmes to reconstruct them. T——- tell us about their height, speed andf stride-length

A

biomechanics, physics, trackways

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66
Q

What kind of dinosaur was the fastest? Which was the slowest?

A

The small bipedal theropods were the fastes wheras the quadrapedal stegs and anklyosaurs were the slowest.

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67
Q

How do we reconstruct an extinct species intelligence?

A

Using brain:body ratios. Fun fact - birds got more clever to navegate 3D space when flying.

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68
Q

Senses were easy / hard to reconstruct. Can compare with the modern reptile brain to do this

A

Hard

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69
Q

Ways to reconstruct a species diet:
1. T— form
2. J– adaptations - reptile herbivores must d——- them to do so.
3. Co-o——–
4. C——– ! Hard to link producer to content
5. G– contents
6. Fo——- finds - velociraptor / protoceratops death lock

A
  1. teeth
  2. jaw
  3. co-occurance
  4. coprolites
  5. gut
  6. Fortuitous
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70
Q

Ways to reconstruct behaviour:
1. E—. Ossification level of offspring in them, buried or not. Less ossification may show higher levels of parental care and investment
2. T——- - parallel? Followed by predators?
3. S—— displays - frills / pachycephalosaurs.

A

eggs, trackways, sexual

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71
Q

What limited the size of the biggest dinosaurs?

A

Pumping blood, drinking water, sinking in mud.

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72
Q

Here is some evidence for dinosaur thermoregulatory physiology. Google the ones you don’t understand.
There are 10 in total.

A
  1. Stance and activity levels
  2. Adaptations for processing high volumes of food
  3. Haemodynamics - Structure of heart
  4. Brain size - Bigger brain = more energy needed.
  5. Nose morphology - may be adapted to heat up air as it goes in.
  6. Bone Histology and Growth rates - can indicate metabolic rates. More blood vessels in bone = higher metabolism
  7. Predator - prey ratios - MORE prey would be needed to support warm-blooded animals
  8. Palaeogeography - where did they live? d
  9. Core and peripheral temperatures. Look at isotope composition of peripheral versus internal bones to indicate heat distribution in their skeletons.
  10. Presence of feathers?
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73
Q

Give some theories of what the plates on stegosaurus could have evolved for

A

Thermoregulation
Flapping down for defence.
Could have been spines originally then evolved into plates.

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74
Q

T/F Darwin believed that we could see evolutionary patterns in the record

A

FALSE he thought we could not but this has been disproved

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75
Q

Give the Evolutionary Patterns based on their description here:
1. - Variety across all of life, different kingdoms & clades.
2. Describes how morphologically disparate (variable) a certain group is.

  1. Describes what originated from what and at what rate species originate - punctuated equilibrium. Is this pattern across all groups at the same time or across time?
  2. Is there a background rate of extinctions? Do extinction rates cluster across a certain time, and is this across all groups or not?Not all groups DO follow these same patterns.
    There is a need to differentiate between background extinction, pulses of extinction (extinction events) and mass extinctions.
  3. How long do taxa live between extinction events? Chances of going extinct are believed to be INDEPENDENT of how old you are → Similar to that essay you did :). Age does NOT really correlate with extinction, maybe more to do with red queen hypothesis or such.
  4. Stable or in bursts? Can be related to morphology, genomics or taxa.. Can see if in phylogenies species accumulate slowly or appear to ‘bunch up’ in certain places throughout time.
  5. Plotting where fossils occurred when they were alive. Can plot occurrences of fossils across a phylogeny and see how these species spread across the plane
A
  1. Biodiversity
  2. Morphological disparity
  3. Origination Patterns
  4. Extinction Patterns
  5. Taxonomic Duration
  6. Rates of evolution
  7. Fossils & Biogeographic patterns
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76
Q

Give the Big Mass Extinction based on their description:
1. Short glaciation event, killed lots of tropical shallow reef biota
2. - Seems to be pulsed due to probably aquatic anoxia, related to the spread of forests, possibly. Vegetation caused algal blooms then anoxia in oceans
3 - Related to atmospheric pollution & heating due to the emplacement of Siberian Traps Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). This lava released loads of gas and caused lots of acid rain. The sea went above a certain temperature and metabolism broke down in animals, especially those living across the equator
4 - Another LIP in the Central Atlantic. Poisons the atmosphere.
5 - Bolide impact (the meteor) caused a nuclear impact

A
  1. End Ordivician
  2. End Devonian
  3. End Permian
  4. End Triassic
  5. KT
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77
Q

Define this: the problem that due to the incomplete nature of the fossil record, it is extremely uhnlikely to find the first or last organism of any given taxa in a fossil

A

The Signor Lipps Effect

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78
Q

It is difficult to study mass extinctions as you need long c———- stratigraphic sections of MANY h—— before and after the event

A

continuous, habitats

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79
Q

What is this: refers to the fact that to an extent, which organisms survived a mass extinction could be largely stochastic

A

Gould’s contingency

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80
Q

Recovery after a mass extinction can be rapid due to a—— r—— or protracted due to too few taxa remaining to d——

A

adaptive radiation, diversify

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81
Q

What are Lazarus taxa?

A

Taxa which disappear after an extinction event but then arise again in a small population (named after a saint that Jesus resurrected)

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82
Q

What are Elvis taxa?
(Think Elvis impersonators)

A

Taxa which look like something which evolved before but did in fact evolve independently

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83
Q

What are Lilliput taxa?

A

A small / dwarf taxa which survives a mass extinction (Lilliput is from Gulliver’s travels)

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84
Q

Phyletic gradualism is now less believed than punctuated equilibrium. Supported by Gould and Niles 1993. When does punctuated equilibrium evolve?

A

When a small isolated population quickly evolves to be very different species which diversify. Happens in bursts. Peripatric speciation

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85
Q

Define these terms used to talk about punctuated equilibrium
1. Species sorting
2. Species selection
3. Habitat tracking

A
  1. Fledgling species are more likely to survive if they are ecologically different from their parent species (less competition) – this idea talks about niche partitioning essentially
  2. The differential rates of appearances and extinction of species within lineages –. The TURNOVER of species
  3. Ecological communities follow habitats suitable for them during environmental change.
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86
Q

Evolution is tirggrered by BOTH the red queen andf the court jester. Who is the court jester?

A

Just the environment changing rapidly.

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87
Q

What are the different tiers of evolution?
First Tier-
Second Tier -
Third Tier -

A
  1. More species level. Evolutionary events in the ecological moment on the day to day.
  2. Punctuated events and trends withing lineages over GEOLOGICAL time caused by isolate between pops.
    3, Mass extinctions, wiping out whole groups and allowing new ones to arise.
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88
Q

Which species was evidence for the origin of birds?

A

Archaeopteryx

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89
Q

Birds are highly d—– dinosaurs evolving specifically from the t——–

A

derived, theropods.

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90
Q

Define paleodiversity

A

Considers how biodiversity has varied in the past

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91
Q

Which are the two ways in which the taxic approach can study paleobiodiversity?

A
  1. Can examine the rate of discovery curves. When the curve plateaus we can infer all species have been discovered (like in SARs)
  2. Can extrapolate from an intensive local sample (eg. one tree) and then estimatr how many undiscovered species there are
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92
Q

Try and label some hings which may be hard to recognize in the fossil record, for example the presence of diseased individuals.

A
  • Species, ontogenetic stages, sexual dimorphism, ecophenotypes
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93
Q

It is hard to know if Linnean Hierarchies (Kingdom phylum class etc.) are e———- across different groups of organisms

A

equivalent

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94
Q

To assess paleobiodiversity, at a prescribed interval in time, you can measure:
1. M——— diversity
2. The number of t— –> Works best if they are well known, well represented and well preserved. Can use higher taxa as proxies for taxa number

A

morphological, taxa

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95
Q

What percent of the marine organisms which have ever lived have we probably described?

A

2-4 %. This is the same estimate for the % of organisms which ever lived which live in todays world.

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96
Q

What does the PDB stand for?

A

Paleo-database. It shows the presence of certain taxa through time.

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97
Q

What are the 3 models for the ways biodiversity can increase?
1. A—– caused by irregular extinction
2. L—— with a slow start, exponential growth then a plateau
3. E———. In a bifurcated model where rate starts slow then keeps rapidly increasing.
Different taxa show different models of these

A

additive, logistic, exponential

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98
Q

Why may life be more diverse on land?

A

Land it more heterogeneous. Mainly due to insects and soil microbes but we also do NOT know much about sea microbes

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99
Q

Explain these 2 explanations for patterns of biodiversity
1. The Equilibirum Model
2. The Expansion Model

A
  1. There is a ‘ceiling’ on biodiversity due to diversity damping factors (like competition) or limiting equilibirum factors (like densitiy dependence but for species)
  2. There is NO biodiversity ceiling. Seems unlikely.
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100
Q

There is much controversy as to if the e– C——– demise was real or not. May be down to rock available to study. Discusses across many papers on dinosaur diversification

A

end-cretaceous

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101
Q

It is hard to get DNA from fossils, as the instant something dies it becomes infested with external & internal m——- which c——— it, and DNA breaks down VERY quickly in the presence of w—- or a–

A

microbes, contaminates, water, air

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102
Q

We have only got SOME dna preserved from m——- in ice, egyptian mummies, and g—- sloths.

A

mammoths, ground

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103
Q

Rapid technologicalk adances jave allowed us to sequence DNA of many e—– species, like c— bears, Irish e–, N———, mammoths and more.
We have even obtained T.rex p——- sequences from bone-derived collagen.

A

extinct, cave, elk, neanderthals

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104
Q

Sequence data means we do not need to just rely on a—— to construct taxonomies. We have molecular taxonomies instead.

A

anatomy

105
Q

T/F The genome evolves at a constant rate

A

False. Molecular clocks must try and account for this to avoid giving too long divergence times.

106
Q

Fossils are used in molecular clocks to:
1. Reflect e———- history
2. To calibrate t—

A

evolutionary, time

107
Q

Did birds likely evolve from arboreal or cursorial dinosaurs?

A

Cursorial (running 4 insects ones)

108
Q

Why weren’t birds common OR diverse when the dinos were around?

A

Due to the pterosaurs. Also because of this, many birds did not actually fly.

109
Q

When did the 2 major radiations of birds occur?
1. After the KT extinction in the c——— which is IN the m—– era
2. In the C——— / M—— (paleogene / Neogene) (songbirds)

A

Cretaceous, Mesozoic
Cenozoic / Miocene (both are right, the Miocene just falls in the Cenozoic. Mesozoic is NOT right)

110
Q

What is paleognathae?

A

Includes ostriches and other flightless birds, The most basal of all the living birds

111
Q

Neognathae either lived through the c——– but weren’t very diverse, or if they evolved to fill the vacuum left by the p——–

A

cretaceous, pterosaurs

112
Q

Evo-devo lets us switch genes o- and o– to discern the f——- of individual genes and how they have been passed on and e——.

A

on, off, function, evolved

113
Q

The fossil record helps in developmental genetics by allowing us to:
- D— events
- Determine past character c——–
- Estimate the speed of g—– evolution

A

Date, combinations, genome

114
Q

What is the temporal framework for human evolution?

A

The Neogene Time Scale

115
Q

What type of environment have humans lived through? What has caused this variation?

A

One which has been cooling since the middle miocene and seen many expansions and contractions in the polar icecaps due to Milankovitch cycles

116
Q

We can look at ice cores and p—— in the seas to see climactic changes in human evolution

A

plankton

117
Q

What events make human history more complex to study?

A

Glacial events

118
Q

We can get p—– out of sediments to infer which species humans co-existed with.

A

Pollen

119
Q

What 4 things do we study in humans when looking at human evolution?
1. A——
2. G——–
3. P———
4. B——-

A

Anatomy, genomics, physiology, behaviour.

120
Q

What are the main problems with human fossils?
1. Past populations were s—-
2. We are t——–
3. Our bones are f——

A

small, terrestrial, fragile.

As a consequence, jaws, teeth and footprints are what tends to be preserved. We also have archeology to look at.

121
Q

What group are hominoids a sister group to?

A

Old World Monkeys

122
Q

When did primates first appear?

A

65 mya, before the KT mass extinction thus co-existed with dinosaurs. They only started to look like modern ones after this point though.

123
Q

Humans went to Africa THEN to Asian THEN where?

A

Then they went back to asia and to Europe. We probably went out of africa due to drought and INTO europe due to the megafauna. Basically, we left africa in several waves, the second wave being more significant , replacing other human ancestors like the neanderthals and the denisovans.

124
Q

What did people think fossil remains of humans were pre-1890s?

A

Either soldiers from the horde of genghis Khan and the remains of Cossacks which had died on the way back from their victory over Napoleon

125
Q

The P—— man was a HOAX, only discovered as one in what year?

A

Piltdown, 1953

126
Q

How can we tell that Dart’s discovery ‘Taung boy’ was bipedal?
From the c—– angle of the ——- m—- Was a member of A———— ——-

A

central, foramen magnum, australopithecus Africanus

127
Q

What did the ‘Star Wars Bar’ scenario describe?

A

Bipedal Australopithecines and Homo erectus co-existing together instead of evolving on from one another.

128
Q

Which family were major collectors of fossils from human evolution?

A

The Leakey family. In eastern africa throughout the last century.

129
Q

How many widely-recongized species of Australopithicene are there today?

A
  1. As a result of the flurry of findings in the 1980s mainly.
130
Q

Why is Chad so interesting to human evolution?

A

Most fossils from humans were found near the east coast of Africa. This is inland, and would have been forest. We thought forests were filled with apes, and we evolved in the rift valleys, but this may just be a Big Big bias

131
Q

What environments did the Australopithecines live in?

A

A mix of plains, woodland, forests and lake sides.

132
Q

What were the differences between the gracile and robust forms?

A

Robust ones had more muscxle attachments, and probably ate more meat.

133
Q

Which form of Australopithecenes most likely used tools?

A

A. Habilis.

134
Q

How did Austraolpithecines walk?

A

Bow-legged, bent-knee bent-hip

135
Q

Did Australopithecines spend time in trees? How?

A

Yes, have cranially orientated shoulder joints to evidence this.

136
Q

There is clear evidence for s—– d——- in the australopithecenes.

A

sexual dimorphism. Remember also, they were much much shorter than us.

137
Q

When new homo remains are found, scientists have a tendency to ‘lump’ or ‘split’. What do these 2 terms mean?

A

Lump means they are placed in the same species. Split means that they are, sometimes incorrectly, split into two species. Evidvence form many human indiggenous groups shows that skeletal and skull variation can be quite large in the same species

138
Q

People reconstructing skulls from small fragments show a lot of a—– l—–. 3D s—— may make this a bit easier.

A

artistic licence, scanners

139
Q

Lucy’s child was of homo h——. It is:
1. Less/more ape-like than Lucy.
2. Only 200,0000 years older but much smaller and less/more human like

A

Habilis, More, less

140
Q

What species was Lucy?

A

Australopithecus afarensis

141
Q

Why was the naming of Homo habilis controversial (3)?

A
  1. Demonstrated genera & species of hominin co-existed
  2. Showed there was NOT a neat evolutionary transition as there was insufficienct morphological space
  3. We had to redefine the genus Homo and accpet it could have reduced brain size.
142
Q

Fill in some charecteristics of the gener Homo:
1. ——- posture
2. ———- brain size
3. Ability to fashion ——
4. Possible s—-

A

upright, increased / larger, tools, speech

143
Q

Differences between Homo h—– and Homo r——:
Large vs small brain case
Broad flat face vs small less flat case
Slight brow ridge vs strong brow ridge
Broader postcanine teeth vs more angulated occipital bone

A

habilis, rudolfensis

144
Q

Name the 4 homo species

A

Homo rudolfensis, habilis, ergaster and erectus

145
Q

There have been multiple suggestions for the evolutionary origin of Homo habilis and homo r—— suggesting uncertainty around their phylogeny

A

rudolfensis

146
Q

How did Homo habilis and H. rodolfensis compare to Australopithecines?

A

Larger brain, smaller face and teeth.

147
Q

How did Homo habilis and H. rodolfensis’ diets compare to Australopithecines?

A

Probably similar diet but more GRACILE - ate soft fruits

148
Q

Were all homos ‘committed’ bipeds.

A

No.

149
Q

Did homos make tools? What fractures tell us this?

A

Yes. From conchoidal fractures.

150
Q

List some movements within site dynamics.

A

Hominids carrying & removing, floods, scavengers

151
Q

Here are the 3 hpothesis for site dynamics where tools have been found:
X -
Y -
Z -

A

A cash of stones created
Y - Ate meat in trees
Z - Cut up carcasses and moved them
Evidence is thin to discuss this

152
Q

We went through these hypothesuis for early homo susbsistence activities to arrive at the one today. They are as follows:
1960s - H—– hypothesis (complex-human like behavior)
1970s- Food-s—– hypothesis (simple human behaviour)
1980s- S—— hypothesis (more animal-like)
1990s-Today Advanced scavenging hypothesis (human & animal)

A

hunting, sharing, scavenger

153
Q

Which 2 species of homo left africa before homo sapins evolved? Roughly how many million years ago was this?

A

Homo ergaster and homo erectus by atleast 1.8 mya

154
Q

Which 2 ways could we have left africa?

A
  1. Via Israel
  2. Via the red sea
155
Q

How long could it of taken for erectus and ergaster to leave africas?
a) 250 years
b) 2500 years
c) 25000 years

A

c) 25000 years moving at 15 km per generation

156
Q

Did H.ergaster or H.erectus likely co-exist with some austraolopithecine species?

A

H. ergaster

157
Q

List some charecteristics of H.ergaster and erectus, compared to their ancestors and modern humans today. Mention the spinal column. (5 in total)

A
  • More robust & muscular than humans
  • Longer lifespan than ancestor of around 52 years
  • Heavier than H.habilis
  • Decreased sexual dimorphosm compared to ancestor potentially reflecting social structure / dynamics and more male on male co-operation
  • Hole through which spinal column ran is SMALL indicating smaller demand for nerve signal traffic and possibly less control over breathing, so potentially no speech
158
Q

List these in order of brain capacity best to worst:
1. Homo sapiens
2. Homo habilis
3. Homo erectus
4. Australopithecines

A
  1. Homo sapiens 1350 cc
  2. Homo erectus 850 cc
  3. Homo habilis 650 cc
  4. Australopithecines 400 cc
    CC just stands for cranial capacity
159
Q

What makes H. ergaster / erectus standout from it’s ancestors? (7)

A
  • An extended childhood
    -Systematic tool making
  • First use of fire
  • Appearance of systemaric hunting
  • Genuione home bases
  • First migration out of africa
160
Q

A—— tools appear from 1.4 mya in Ethiopia, as well as Europe, Africa, Asia and India, but never made it to East Asia. This is called the M—- LINE.

A

Acheulian, Movus

161
Q

What may explain the movus line?
1. B—— used instead
2. M—— out of africa before discovering this tech
3. F—- tech as new region didnt have appropriate volcanic rock

A

bamboo, migrated, forgot

162
Q

Our main research into how H.ergaster/ erectus lived is based on research of h——g——- today and looking at h— bases (archeology)

A

hunter-gatherers, home bases

163
Q

What did Homo Heidelbergensis evolve out of? How long ago? Where did they evolve?

A

Out of ergaster/erectus around 600,000 years ago in Africa. Then spread to Europe

164
Q

What did H.Heidelbergensis also give rise to? (2 species)

A

H. neanderthalensis about 400,0000 and then H. sapiens

165
Q

What are these neanderthal traits?
- Adapted to c— and lived in small n—- groups.
- L—- brain
- R—– build from large muscle attachment sites on bones
- B—– rituals
- Stone t—– and worked wood

A

cold, nomadic, large, robust, burial, tools

166
Q

Where did neanderthals range?

A

In Europe

167
Q

Genetic evidence massively supports o– of a—– model, meaning we are all only very superficially different from eachother, having seperated about 1—— years ago

A

Out of Africa, 100,000

168
Q

What are the 2 reasons that neanderthals could have died out?

A
  1. Genocide
  2. Competitive replacement
169
Q

What trajectory did the neanderthals die in?

A

In an east to west trajectory

170
Q

What is unusual about the Denisovan man found in Siberia?

A

The genome sequence shows that they were NOT neanderthals or sapiens, although they shared some DNA with extan homo sapiens and neanderthals, indicating interbreeding

171
Q

Who were the ‘hobbit’ people of Indonesia?

A

They were dwarfed hominins (erectus) from 95,000 to 17,000 years ago. They used primitive tools and hunted dwarfed elephants and giant lizards.

172
Q

When did the hobbit people disappear from record?

A

When erectus arrived in Indonesia

173
Q

What are the 2 ways the hobbit people are believed to have evolved?
1. Dwarfed from H erectus by i—– dwarfing
2. Had a p——– condition affecting sapiens.
Which is more likely?

A

insular, pathological.
The former is more likely as a study of other dwarfed species suggests the reduction in brain size is feasible.

174
Q

Fill in this evidence for Out of Africa
1. Some f—– evidence
2. M—– biology eg. Africans having m— genetic variation and evidence from nuclear genes and - chromosomes
3. C—— times (amount of time since most recent common ancestor lived)
4. Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA showing evidence for i——-

A

fossil, molecular, Y, Coalescence, interbreeding

175
Q

What is a nuclear gene?

A

Simply physical DNA found within the nucleus of a eukaryote, instead of a chloroplast of mRNA

176
Q

What is the garden of eden hypothesis?

A

Basically another way of describing the out of Africa theory, We left Africa via asia and Europe creating a population bottleneck. In the meantime, the population expanded in Africa.

177
Q

Why can’t tools be used to reliably date species existence?

A

They were likely passed on through cultural exchange and not one single evolution of a tool.

178
Q

Tools improved and diversified from the m—— p—— until the u—- p—— era

A

middle paleolithic, upper paleolithic

179
Q

Generally, foot length in dinosaurs is -/- of the height to the hip, thus you can tell height from trackways

A

1/4

180
Q

What progression did the Neanderthals die off in? How long ago was this?

A

An east-west progression 40,000 to 27,000 ya.humans left Africa around 100,000 ya

181
Q

Australia was probably colonizaed 60,0000 to –,000 ya. Was this by one group or multiple?

A

65,000 ya by one group. Evidenced by DNA, and Mungo Man,

182
Q

How did people get to Australia.

A

By boat, island hopping. Sea levels lower byt would have still been over horizon, so may have headed there due to smoke from forest fires and such.

183
Q

What evidence do we have for the movement of humans across the world?
1. Ar——–
2. An—— (less reliable to use)
3. M——- B—–
4. Me——

A

Archaeology, anatomy, molecular biology, megafauna.

184
Q

Around when did humans get into the Americas? Why do we think they did this?

A

30,000 ya as they were following the mammoths. Moved rapidly down south along the coast to countries like Chile

185
Q

How can language help us with human evolution?

A

We can see how different groups of people evolved via cladistic analysis. Done on the aborigine people.

186
Q

The extinction of the m——— coincides with the arrival of homo s—–

A

megafauna, sapiens

187
Q

What is sapiens cranial capacity? The brain expansion was related to the mother’s m—- rate and gestation t— / no. of offspring

A

1000 to 1400, metabolic, time

188
Q

What are the problems with having a Big Brain? 3 Main

A
  • Need stable high energy food supply such as meat
  • Big heads problematic during birth
  • Extended pregnancy and chidhood
189
Q

T/F The neanderthals had a bigger brain than sapiens

A

TRUE although they still had lower EQ

190
Q

Give ways in which we get evidence for speech and language.
1. E—— of brain
2. L—– / pharynx structure
3. Sp—- canal
4. Tools and a– although less reliable
5. F—- Gene which controls speech

A

endocasts, larynx, spinal, art, FOXP2

191
Q

There is evidence of art from —,000 ya in South Afirca and 33,500 in Europe

A

100,000

192
Q

In S—- in Russia they found burial wth many laboriously made ivory beads implying existence of culture., From the u—- p——-

A

upper paleolithic

193
Q

Evidence discovered for Je—– (100,000 ya), Fl— (40,000 ya), Wild f— (30,000 ya), P—– (20,000 ya)and domesticated d— (15,000 ya)

A

jewlerry, flutes, flax (probably for clothing), pottery, dogs

194
Q

M—— huts created in siberia implied what?

A

Mammoth, that people had begun to settle

195
Q

What were these main centres of agricultural innovation producing?
1. Meso-America
2. the Fertile Crescent around Syria, western Asia and North Africa
3. China

A
  1. Maize, beans, squash, cotton and gourd
  2. Cotton, whear, barley, cattle and sheep
  3. Rice, soybean, millet, taro, pigs,
196
Q

In the agricultural n—– revolution, populations shot from 10 million to — million

A

Neolithic, 100

197
Q

A– H—- in Syria is a series of villages occupied from 13,000 (neolithic era) to 95,00 ya which records the transitions of hunter-gatherers to farmers.

A

Abi Hurega

198
Q

The bronze age began –00 ya

A

5300 ya

199
Q

What did the article by R— et al. 2002 mention about the polar dinosaurs?

A
  • Rich et al. 2002
  • Polar Dinosaurs
  • Inclination of earth’s axis could WELL have lead to extreme long nights / days as seen in the poles today
  • Absence of lizards & crocodilians from this area implies atleast some dinos up here were warm-blooded
  • Bones constantly growing = no hibernating
  • May have migrates
  • Site in Alaska in permafrost may yet yield more discoveries
200
Q

What did the paper by B—- MJ 2010 titled ‘Studying function and behabiour in the fossil record’ tell us. Refers to whose earlier work?u

A
  • Promotes CAUTIOUS comparison with extant species to infer use of biological strucutes in extinct ones.
    Discusses importance of exceptional discoveries like teeth, and the importance of comparison with modern phylogenies.
  • Build on Cuvier’s work which agreed that form DID reflect function
201
Q

What did the paper by Pearson & P—- 1999 titled ‘Middle Eocene Seawater pH and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations’ tell us about the oceans?

A

Pearson & Palmer 1999
- In additon to Palmer’s previous work (Palmer et al. 1998) showed us that boron isotope concs can ALSO indicate C02 as more acidic water indicated more Carbonic Acid in that water.
Studied the Eocene to show C02 levels similar to today

202
Q

What did the paper by Zhou et al. 2003 titled ‘ An exceptionally preserved Lower Cretaceous ecosystem’ show us

A
  • Studied exceptional preservation sites in Northeastern China
  • Found feathered theropod dinosaurs & earky birds, providing more evidence for dinos evolving into birds
  • Also indicte early radiations of angiosperms and mammals
    :)) Beautiful fossils
203
Q

What did the ARTICLE by Smith, 2003 titled ‘Making the best of a patchy fossil record. Science 301, 321-322.’ tell us?

A

Used marine molluscs to show each time frame has not been sampled equally.
Shows sampling effort to correlate with more exposed rock.
Rock outcrop area waqs found to be most reliable predictor of sampling bias in fossil record, but is hard to seperate other factors causing a percieved increase in diversity in fossil record, such as more shallow marine seas being present.

204
Q

What are some new technologies which can be used to analyse fossils in the lab?

A

CT scans, synchrotrons, etc.

205
Q

Definition: Fossilized dung

A

Coprolites (hard to id which dinosaur produced it)

206
Q

– Scanners can check eggs for embryos

A

CT

207
Q

We have found dinosaur PROTEINS but not — (yet)

A

DNA

208
Q

Feathers do / don’t rot easily

A

DO. When we find them, we can know their pigments though

209
Q

Definition: Trace fossils such as footprints. Tracks can tell us about animal behaviour, speed and size.

A

Ichnology

210
Q

Soft tissue is RARE to find but can when there is no s——–, rapid burial, and no o———- bacteria

A

scavengers, oxegenating

211
Q

Definition: A stone or pebble swallowed to aid digestion

A

Gastroliths

212
Q

What does a synchroton do?

A

Uses very very bright light to examine molecular structures and surfaces so we can see things about fossils we never could have otherwise

213
Q

What can finite strain analysis do in the vaguest sense?

A

Tell us properties from bones such as crushing strength and other biomechanical type things

214
Q

When did we discover that fossils are the remains of organisms that once lived, and not just crystals

A

Pre-1750s

215
Q

When did we realize the Earth was MUCH older than the bible

A

1750s

216
Q

When did we realize that DIFFERENT organisms lived in the past

A

Pre-1859 when Darwin came about

217
Q

When did we realize that DIFFERENT organisms lived in the past

A

Pre-1859

218
Q

When did Darwin / Wallace propose speciation

A

1859

219
Q

When was Mendel’s work rediscovered?

A

1900s

220
Q

When was Neo-Darwinian Evolution proposed

A

1930s (combination of Darwin’s and Mendel’s work)

221
Q

When did we discover that the continents moved?

A

1960s

222
Q

When did we discover the punctuated equilibrium model?

A

1972

223
Q

When did we start reconstructing phylogenies? From 1970 to…

A

1980s

224
Q

When did we discover the realities of mass extinction

A

1980s

225
Q

When did we discover the realities of past, present and future global change

A

1990s (+)

226
Q

Dinosaur skeletons are mainly d———-

A

Disarticulated

227
Q

S——– - one lower hole in skill
A——: Fully roofed skull no hole
D——: 2 holes. Upper temporal opening and lower temporal opening.

A

Synapsids, Anapsids, Diapsids

228
Q

Definition: Comprises the closest relatives of another given unit in evolutionary biology

A

Sister groups (Pterosaurs are a sister group to dinosaurs and crocodiles are dinosaurs closest living sister group)

229
Q

Lizard-Hipped: S——–
Bird-hipped: O———-

A

Saurischia
Ornithischia

230
Q

Are dinosaurs a polyphyletic or a monophyletic group?

A

Monophyletic

231
Q

An order of mainly herbivoruous dinosaurs which are ‘bird-hipped’. Includes armoured and duck-billed dinosaurs. A sister group to dinosaurs

A

Ornithischia

232
Q

A group comprising 12 species of herbivorus dinosaurs with plates on their back. Had tail spines for defence and were 3-9 metres in length.

A

Stegosaurus

233
Q

What is the sister group to stegosaurus?

A

Anklyosaurus

234
Q

A dinosaur with armour plating and a club tail, up to 9 metres in length

A

Anklyosaurus

235
Q

The p——————- was a head-butting social dinosaur in the sister group to Ceratopsians (which included stegs)

A

Pachycephalosaur

236
Q

A dino group including tricerotops, with about 40 species. Could charge at 40 kmph and lived in herds making them a bit less dumn

A

Ceratopsia

237
Q

A t—- group defines a common ancestor and a– it’s descendents. This can be broken down into:
1. A c—- group, including living and e—– descendents
2. A s— group - all are e——-

A

total, crown, extinct, stem, extinct

238
Q

Paraphyletic means not all things come from the same a———-. Polyphyletic arises from c———– (an accident)

A

Ancestors, convergence

239
Q

Cladistic methods established s—– groups instead of ancestor-descendent relationships

A

Sister

240
Q

The CLADISTIC REVOLUTION meant we started testing only for the presence of S—– characters using a——-, m——– or s—— data. Used p———- or Bayesian methods to do this

A

shared, anatomical, morphological, sequence, parsimony.

241
Q

What does this define?
The possession by two or more organisms of a characteristic inherited exclusively from their common ancestor.

A

A synapomorphy
(Charecteristic shared EXCLUSIVELY by descendants of common ancestor)

242
Q

What does this define? The ancestral character state shared by 2 or more lineages in a particular clade

A

A symplesiomorphy ( shared by two or MORE lineages)

243
Q

The paper by —– & —- in 1993 called ‘Punctuated equilibrium comes with age’ told us what?

A

Gould & Niles
Highlighted how despite past controversy, punctuated equilibrium has became to be more accepted amongst academics and how it can help us understand evolutionary patterns and processes.
The initial controversy was due to Darwinism and his proposition of phyletic gradualism.

244
Q

What does the paper titled ‘Systematics and the Fossil Record: Documenting Evolutionary Patterns’ by Smith 1994 tell us?

A

Systematics classifies organisms based on their evolutionary relationships.
Discusses need to reconstruct evolutionary patterns free from bias. Fossils must be used, and can help infer timing and patterns of mass extinctions and such, but alongside other forms of evidence as well. Fossil record has LIMITATIONS and BIASES

245
Q

What did the paper by F—— et al. 2004 titled ‘shape of mesozoic dinosaur richness’ tell us? What was used in this study (DW easy answer)?

A

Fastovsky- Used a BIG global database of MESOZOIC dinosaurs to show species-richness patterns over time. Shows NO end-cretaceous decline. Species richness peaked in MIDDLE of mesozoic era. Shows dinosaur richness patterns to be very tied up with environmental conditions, biotic interactions and evolutionary processes

246
Q

Did Wang & Dobson 2006 find evidence for the end-cretaceous demise?

A

NO. Also estimated number of dinosaurs we had not yet discovered - discovery curves

247
Q

The study by Ll— et al. 200- found NO evidence for end-c—— demise in dinosaurs and though that apparent explosion in dinosaur diversity during late-cretaceous could have been principally a s—— a—–

A

Lloyd et al. 2008:
cretaceous, sampling artefact

248
Q

Dinosaur diversity and the rock record, by B—– et al. 2010, found a / no end-creataceous demise and found a bias created by a—– of r— available

A

Barrett, A DEMISE!! (Unusual compared to other studies), amount of rock

249
Q

This paper B—- 1997. Models for the diversification of life. TREE 12, 490-495.
Found a l—– curve for marine organisms and an e—– curve for terrestrial ones. This was concluded to be unlikely to be down to a p— fossil record

A

Benton 1997, logistic, exponential, poor

250
Q

What did the Culotta 2015 article tell us about DNA sequencing techniques and their uses with ancient tissue samples?

A

Shows the increase of the use of ancient DNA in scientific papers in recent years. Says that although DNA contamination is a big problem, these techniques can be applief to discover more about ancient diseases / extinct species diets.

251
Q

What did Brusatte et al. 20– tell us about the Birds and when they came about? What data was used to discover this?

A
  1. Were around in end-cretaceous but were decimated by KT extinction too.
    Had 2 major radiations, 1 at the end-createcous, forming basal flightless birds, (possibly helped by pterosaurs not being about), and the 2nd in the Mesozoic.
    Show how fossil, morphological, genomic, phylogenetic AND statistical data can all combine to show the evolutionary pathways of this group of animals.
252
Q

A—– and c—– hypothesis for flight.

A

Arborial, cursorial

253
Q

What is a nodule?

A

A nodule is a small, irregularly rounded knot, mass, or lump of a mineral or mineral aggregate that typically has a contrasting composition from the enclosing sediment or sedimentary rock.

254
Q

what IS neo-darwinian evolution? when did it come around?

A

A combination of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection with Gregor Mendel’s theory of genetics. It’s ‘modern synthesis’ came around from the 1930’s.

255
Q

How can microbial mats help to provide the unusual chemical environment often involved in exceptional preservation?

A

Can form a kind of ‘death mask’ wherein they stabilize sediment and set up geochemical gradients promoting early mineralisation

256
Q

How can decay prone tissue be preserved?

A

By authigenic materials which fast replicate in or around the tissues. These can be things like apatite, iron pyrite, silica or calcite

257
Q

what was an ornithopod?

A

A bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur.

258
Q

what were some features of archaeopteryx?

A

Bird like: Flight feathers and furcular
Unusual: Teeth, tail, claws on hand and gastralia meaning ‘belly ribs’
Archeopteryx can be described as a bird, but also a saurischian dinosaur

Paleobiology (4 decks)

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