ANTH 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Coprolite, Taphonomy, Organism
Document Summary
Paleontology: study of extinct organisms based of fossilized remains. Fossils: preserved remnants of once-living things often buried in the ground. Gives us insight to the time & environment. Phylogeny: the evolutionary relationship and biological changes within and between organisms. Chemical replacement of calcium and phosphorus in bones by silica and iron. How it happens: organism dies, normal process of decay has stopped, sediment moves in, usually by water, usually only skeletal remains fossilize, trace fossils: traces of organisms that have fossilized. Paleospecies: species: too organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring, can"t determine that with fossils, must look for very minute similarities and differences when determining species of fossils, lines between species are blurred. William smith: strata layers of sedimentary rock representing various periods of decomposition. Tuesday, october 13, 2015: principle of faunal succession: same kind of fossils in each layer, principles of stratigraphy.
