Let’s see what you already know! For this activity, you are a palaeobiologist interested in reconstructing ancient ecosystems. You have searched the scientific literature and found 5 clues:
Let’s see what you already know! For this activity, you are a palaeobiologist interested
in reconstructing ancient ecosystems. You have searched the scientific literature and
found 5 clues:
1. The majority of the field site (~100 km2) is mostly covered with limestone. However, in one area younger mudstone rocks are preserved above the limestone.
2. The limestone has many invertebrate fossils including starfish, sea urchins, and coral, but mostly has bivalve shells.
3. The limestone also has vertebrate fossils. Small shark teeth are sometimes found. A single elasmosaurid plesiosaur tooth was discovered. Amazingly, several coprolites (fossilised dung) have fish vertebrae found in them; one coprolite even has a feather inside!
4. The mudstone is rich in tiny ‘microfossils’ that include:
• Small mammalian teeth
• Pollen from 29 different families of flowering plants: the most common families are Caesalpiniaceae (peacock flowers)
5. The mudstone also has larger fossils, including:
• Pelvic and hindlimb elements of an artiodactyl mammal
• A partial leg of a bird
• Several sets of snake vertebrae of varying size
• A simian mammalian skull fragment
discuss what the clues tell us about the ecosystems represented. Remember to
include inferences about:
• Environment & climate
• Time period
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Solved in 3 steps
