Supplemental Internet Exercises – Chapter 8


How does paleontology differ from anthropology and archaeology?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/FAQ/faq.html#Archaeology

What are the practical uses of paleontology?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/FAQ/faq.html#Practical

Name and distinguish between three subdisciplines of paleontology.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/paleowhat.html

How is it thought that amber preserves “inclusions,” those entrapped plants and animals that make it so valuable?

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/amber/

Where are the world’s largest amber deposits, and how was most of the amber collected from this area prior to the mid-twentieth century?

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/amber/varieties.html

What preservational features of Nebraska’s Niobrara River Valley fossil site make it similar to Pompeii?

http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/vertpaleo/ashfall.html

Using the interactive map, determine the age structure (all juveniles, all adults, mixed) of the animals uncovered in this exhibit

http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/vertpaleo/Ashfall/ashmap.html


Supplemental Internet Exercises – Chapter 10


What types of fossils existed in the Precambrian before the Vendian?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/vendian.html

In what types of structures are these fossil normally preserved?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacteriafr.html

select two of the images of Vendian organisms from the White Sea of Russia and provide a brief description of each that includes shape, size, and probable habit of these earliest animals.


Arkarua http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/arkarua.html

Cyclomedusa http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/cyclomedusa.html

Charnia http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/charnia.html

Dickinsonia http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/dickinsonia.html

Eoporpita http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/eoporpita.html

Kimberella http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/kimberella.html

Nemiana http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/nemiana.html

Spriggina http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/spriggina.html

Pteridinium http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/pteridinium.html

Tribrachidium http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/tribrach.html


Which phylum of animals is the only extant phylum that does not have a fossil record in the Cambrian?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camblife.html

What were the geological conditions in British Columbia some 540 MY ago when the Burgess Shale Fauna was preserved?

http://tabla.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/Burgess_Shale/


Choose two of the following organisms found in the Burgess Shale and describe their features.


Anomalocaris http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/panomal.htm

Marella splendens http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pmarella.htm

Olenoides serratus http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/polen.htm

Vauxia gracilenta http://park.org/Canada/Museum/burgessshale/sponges.html or http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/Burgess_Shale/

Tuzoia http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/Burgess_Shale/

Ottoia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pottoia.htm

Leanchoilia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pleancho.htm

Waptia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pwap.htm

Perspicaris http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pperspic.htm

Hallucingenia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/phallu.htm

Choia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pchoia.htm

Aysheaia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/payshia.htm

Canadia http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pcanadia.htm

Thaumaptilon http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pthaum.htm


What are differences in the two current hypotheses that have accounted for the Cambrian extinctions?

http://hannover.park.org/Canada/Museum/extinction/cammass.html


Supplemental Internet Exercises – Chapter 12


Why were the Jurassic reefs so different from those that exist today?

http://www.palaeo.de/edu/JRP/JRP_english5.html

Dr. Richard Owens coined the word “dinosaur” in 1841 from Greek derivatives. What meaning did he ascribe to these animals?

http://www.levins.com/meaning.shtml

What unique fossil evidence found in the Cretaceous rocks of Mongolia first provided information about dinosaur behavior?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/pin/pindino.html

What discovery in 1993 has led scientists to interpret dinosaur nesting behavior as having been similar to that of some extant (living) birds?

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/96/dinoeggs/index.html

What differences exist in the pelvis (hip) of ornithishians and saurischians that have become the basis for their separation?

Heterodontosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa is one of the earliest known ornithischians. What does this animal’s tooth (dentition) pattern indicate about its’ diet?

The ornithischians are commonly called the “bird-hipped” dinosaurs. Why is this a misnomer?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/saurischia.html

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/ornithischia/ornithischia.html

How do the characteristics of theropods differ from sauropods?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/sauropoda.html

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/theropoda.html

What anatomical features do saurischians and birds share?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html

Examine the information about fossil and living mammal groups. Which mammal group is the only extinct member of this clade?

Which of the following mammal clades reproduces by laying eggs similar to birds?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/mammal.html


Where in the stratigraphic record are many clearly recognizable fossils belonging to both the marsupials and eutherians found?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/eutheriafr.html