LABORATORY OF PALEONTOLOGY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2021/2022
- Teacher
- RENATO POSENATO
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- GEO/01
Training objectives
- In the Laboratory of Palaeontology, the student learns the basic systematic knowledge of the most common organisms of the fossil record, mainly represented by protists and invertebrates with mineralized skeletals.
The knowledge attained allow the student to classify in laboratory and in the field the most common systematic groups of the fossil record, to assess their chronological value and paleoecological meaning. Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge of general Palaeontology
Course programme
- LABORATORY OF PALAEONTOLOGY (60 hours: 24 ore of lessons + 36 hours of practical activities)
Basic elements of biology, taxonomy, stratigraphic distribution and paleoecological significance of the following taxonomical groups.
- Cyanobacteria and stromatolites, Coccoliths, diatoms, red and green algae.
- Foraminifera: Fusulinina, Alveolinidae, Nummulitidae and Globigerinacea.
- Porifera and Cnidaria: Rugosa, Scleractinia, Tabulata.
- Brachiopods: Lingulida, Strophomenida, Spiriferida, Rhynchonellida, Terebratulida.
(12 hours lesson; I written partial exam).
- Mollusca - Bivalvia: Pterioida, Veneroida, Rudists; Gastropoda: Archeogastropoda, Mesogastropoda, neogastropoda, Pulmonata; Cephalopoda: Nautiloid, Ammonoidea, Clymeniida, Goniatitida, Ceratitida, Phylloceratida, Ammonitida, Lytoceratida, Belemnitida.
- Echinodermata: Crinoidea ed Echinoidea.
- Graptolites and Trilobites.
(12 lessons; II written partial exam).
Individual observations /practical activities (36 hours of practical laboratory): recognition of the mode of fossilization, classification, paleoecology and dating of fossils belonging to the groups treated in the program. Excursion on the field for observations of fossils and sedimentary successions. At the end of the course the student must submit a written report on the fossils (at least 5) examined during lessons. The report is necessary to access to the final exam. Didactic methods
- Teaching is organized as follows:
- Lectures on all subjects of the course
- Individual activities of recognition and classification of fossils belonging to the systematic groups explained in the course of Laboratory of Palaeontology; at the end of the practical activities the student must prepare a written report on the examined material.
- Excursion on the field with observations of fossils. Learning assessment procedures
- 2 written optional exams during the course, as indicated in the course program, with about 15 questions with open answers. For each written examination, a time of about one hour is given. The written tests are evaluated with the max score of 32 (laude > 30, insufficient <18). If tests are insufficient or the student is absent, he must do the oral examination stated in official appeals. No written tests of recovery are provided. In the oral exam, at least three questions are asked to the student.
The final oral examination consits in the discussion of the report prepared during the laboratory, when the student must demonstrate his ability to link the various topics presented in the lessons and to have acquired the terminology and basic concepts of Paleontology. The final vote results from the average of the votes obtained in the two partial tests and the report discussion. Reference texts
- Materials used during lessons is made available on the course's site. It must be integrated with notes taken by the student in class.
Textbooks useful for the study:
Manuale di Paleontologia, Fondamenti-Applicazioni, 2020, Edizioni Idelson-Gnocchi.
ALLASINAZ A., Paleontologia generale e sistematica degli Invertebrati, ECIG.
CLARKSON E. N. K., Invertebrate Palaeontology and evolution. Harper Collins Ac. Publ.
