Please note: Due to alternative arrangements for teaching and
assessment in place from 18 March 2020 to mitigate against the restrictions in
place due to COVID-19, information shown for 2019/20 may not always be accurate.
Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information
for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Evolutionary Palaeoecology in the field |
| Unit code |
EASC30070 |
| Credit points |
10 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Donoghue |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
- EASC10008 Introduction to Field Skills in Earth Sciences
- BIOL20018 Computational Methods in Biology
- EASC20026 Mesozoic stratigraphy and palaeontology fieldwork
- EASC20029 Introduction to Field Mapping
|
| Co-requisites |
N/A
|
| School/department |
School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Science |
Description including Unit Aims
This is a one-week field course devoted to evolutionary and palaeoecological analysis of Palaeozoic benthic marine invertebrate faunas based in three satellite locations, viz. Valencia, Daroca, and Puertollano (Spain).
The unit aims to enable students to acquire the field skills necessary for:
- Identifying fossil organisms in the field
- Palaeontological faunal and floral community analysis
- Discriminating stratigraphic, ecological, and evolutionary controls on the distribution of fossil organisms
- Taphonomic interpretation of fossil assemblages
- Palaeoenvironmental and palaeocological interpretation of fossil assemblages
Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit students will be able to:
- Identify fossil organisms in the field
- Design and implement a strategy for unbiased sampling of faunal composition
- Employ computational methods for the comparative analysis of faunal composition
- Discriminate between factors that constrain the distribution of fossil organisms
- Undertake effective palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological analyses
Teaching Information
Lectures, fieldwork and evening exercises analysing data collected in the field
Assessment Information
Coursework 100%
Coursework comprises:
- Two short reports (each no more than two pages) describing the data collected in the field and its analysis (each 33% of the unit mark)
- A fifteen minute group presentation describing learners’ analysis of the evolutionary palaeoecology of the succession investigated (34% of the unit mark)
Reading and References
Recommended
- Benton MJ and Harper DAT: Introduction to palaeobiology and the fossil record. Wiley-Blackwell
- Gibbons W and Moreno T: The geology of Spain. Geological Society Publishing House
