Taphonomy

Question 1

Taphonomy definition

Answer 1

the process of fossilization

Question 2

taphonomy depends on

Answer 2

the process of decay and decomposition
transportaion of fossils
potential of fossils
burial of reemains

Question 3

diagenesis of remains

Answer 3

the process by which sediment becomes a rock

Question 4

good fossil conditions

Answer 4

environment with little oycgen, ex peat

no microbial decay

Question 5

taphonomic informationq

Answer 5

life position, clustering
• articulation, breakage, sorting, orientation
• population structure - age and size-frequency
sedimentology

Question 6

trace fossils

Answer 6

valuable because they give contextual information at the time bcs other thing (shell bone) could have been transported

Question 7

sorted population

Answer 7

transporting or sorting populations (they then are all the same size)

Question 8

Types of unaltered remians

Answer 8

ossils that didn’t change much, virtually perfect preservation only mini decay
could get DNA from fossils
rare
through freezing, mummification, amber
the oldest ice usually less than 1mio, maybe 2mio years old

Question 9

Unaltered Remains: ambeer

Answer 9

tree resin
rapidly buries animal, cuts off oxygen, stops decomposition → perfect preservations
however rather small
insects don’t have great fossil record except for amber deposits
extreme good quality

Question 10

Altered Fossils are

Answer 10

petrification, have been changed

Question 11

Perminerealization (altereed fossils)

Answer 11

uids and minerals soaks body → soaks pores with precipitated minerals → soft tissues no longer there but minerals preserved in gaps (cells)
coommon in fossil wood

Question 12

Recrystallization (altered fossil)

Answer 12

originally mineralized so shells or bones
the shell form is unchanged but fabric changes because of recrystallization
because lithification creates fluids that carry minerals that react with shells/bone

Question 13

Replacement (altered fossil)

Answer 13

shell looks same but mineralogy has been replaced (similar to recrystallisation)
ex. Ammonite shell from aragonite to calcite
also completely replaced from aragonite to pyrite
chemistry been altered still useful telltale signs but mineralogy changed

Question 14

Carvonization ( altered fossil)

Answer 14

flattened and carbonized

volatile organic carbon molecules gone → carbon film as print

Question 15

Imprint ( altered fossil)

Answer 15

moulds and casts
through process of lithification → recrystallized → shell no longer there → impression of outre and inner shell (moulds) → preserveed in the rock (casts)

Question 16

Trace Fossils ( altered fossils)

Answer 16

Tracks or footprints
• Trails or paths made by a moving body/ organism
• Burrows or borings
• Coprolites and fecal pellets
• Gastroliths
• Body imprints, e.g., resting marks
• Root marks
• Represent activity
• Provide information about behaviour and environment
• Usually in situ
• Classified by shape or by mode of behaviour

Question 17

Quality of fossil depends on chances of fossilization ie. soft/ hardbody

Answer 17

soft vs. hard body (shell or skeleton) effects fossil record

ex jellyfish not well preserved because of soft body

Question 18

chances of fossilization organisms

Answer 18

scavenged within hours of decaying on land → no fossil

ex. decomposition through recycling organic matter (hunting scavenging)

Question 19

Lagerstätten

Answer 19

large deposits of fossils

Question 20

Lagerstätten examples

Answer 20

conservation and preservation of 100s of fossils
ex lagoon in southern germany has big diversity, then buried in lagoon (dragonflies, reptiles, birds)
ex. Messel clay pit, Lake overcome by Co2 poisining, killed all animals and perserved them (Bates, turtles, fish)

Question 21

lagerstätten environment

Answer 21

often anoxic environemnt ( mud bath etc)

Question 22

Fossils are

Answer 22

fossils are the remains or traces of organisms that lived in the past and have been buried and preserved in rocks

Question 23

Traces and complete skeletons

Answer 23

can be used to understand and reconstruct behaviour and biology
ex. teeth marks, insect damage etc. interactions as fossils

Question 24

Fragmentary skeletons

Answer 24

ex. sharks tooth (bcs they don’t mineralize), bivalve shell (clam)
can use this to reconstruct habitats and ecosystems

Question 25

Soft bodied fossils

Answer 25

no shells, bones etc. but perfect reservation by Abdruck, Traces such as Footprints

Question 26

Artefacte

Answer 26

when looking at human evolutionary history

can help understand behaviour, tool use, social interactiomns, hunting etc

Question 27

Biogeochemistry in fossils

Answer 27

diagnostic biomolecules can be preserved in sediments
preserved as biomarkers
pigments such as melanosomes (pigment structures in feathers)
recognition of colour

Question 28

Where do wee find fossils?

Answer 28

all rock types
igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary
sedimentary best for fossils because anywhere on earths surface
in all environments where life lives
metamorphic processes would destroy most fossils
there are biogenic sedimentary rocks that are fully made up of fossils

Question 29

Microscopic fossils

Answer 29

plankton fossils, measured in microns, hugely abundant in oceans ex. in chalk

Question 30

Biostratigraphy

Answer 30

use of palaeontology to date rocks as relative age dting technique by comparing to other sequences