Lab 10: Carboniferous/Permian Observations
How This Lab Will Work 1. Open a Word doc or similar on your computer 2. At various points I will ask you to answer a question based on the activities in this lab. 3. I will indicate these points by this symbol:
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
4. After you have assembled the answers into your Word doc, go to the course Canvas page. 5. On the module for this week there is a link to TurnItIn. 6. Please upload your document using the TurnInIt. 7. That completes the lab assignment. :)
Reminder on Observation Project Please remember that as we go through these, you should be using these fossils to construct your lab observation project, which was detailed last time. Easy to put off, hard to catch up. ;)
Topics Today: 1. Introduction to Carboniferous-Permian 2. Phylum Rhizaria: Fusulinida 3. Phylum Bryozoa: Archimedes 4. Phylum Plantae: Glossopteris 5. Phylum Plantae: Lepidodendron 6. Phylum Plantae: Calamites 7. Phylum Arthropoda: Meganeuropsis 8. Phylum Arthropoda: Arthropleura 9. Phylum Chordata: Helicoprion 10. Phylum Chordata: Eryops 11. Phylum Chordata: Dimetrodon 12. Phylum Chordata: Lystrosaurus 13. Phylum Chordata: Gorgonopsia
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 1 of 7 Introduction to Carboniferous-Permian In today’s lab we’ll look at specimens from the Carboniferous and the Permian. The Carboniferous was period of high O2 and high CO2. It is typically divided in North America into the Mississippian and the Pennsylvanian, so a sketch of today’s time periods looks like this:
Permian
Pennsylvanian Carboniferous Mississippian
These time periods saw developments of some things we haven’t seen before—namely, land animals, foraminifera, and forests of land plants. This was an amazing and fruitful period of life —but when the Permian ended, the crash was so bad that it nearly wiped out everything that came before.
We’ll need a new phylogenetic chart in addition to our old metazoan (animal) chart; I’ve circled the eukaryote groups we’ll cover today:
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 2 of 7 Phylum Rhizaria: Fusulinida Rhizaria is a supergroup of mostly single-celled eukaryotes, including radiolaria and foraminifera.
Fusulinida are tiny, foot-ball shaped forms that constitute huge numbers in the fossil record, and in some cases pack tightly into rocks like solidified Rice Crispies. https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/vc/foraminifera/ https://geokansas.ku.edu/fusulinids
1. Given the scale described in the first two fusulinids 3d models, about how big was each one of them? ______mm
2. How did these make their shells? ______3. How did they make a living? ______4. In what US states can we find these in abundance? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Bryozoa: Archimedes https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/archimedes-bryozoa-53bf8ce501c744f6aeeff992a65d6f3e
5. This is a rather odd shape. But an even odder name. Why is this called Archimedes? ______
6. There was a Precambrian fossil that remotely had a similar look to it… what was that? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Plantae: Glossopteris The prevalence of this fossil on several continents turned out to be an important piece of evidence in the development of plate tectonics; basically, this fossil appears in a lot of now- separate places, suggesting the continents were once closer than they are today. https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/glossopteris-f9443fbb9cf84394882e329ce72373da
7. How would you describe the distinctive about the pattern of this leaf? ______
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 3 of 7 There is a single fossil of Glossopteris that fascinates me because of the history, and tragedy, of how it came to be collected: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8eWRcHqpUc
More on the doomed Scott expedition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpcZmuz2LGY
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Plantae: Lepidodendron https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lepidodendron-ophiurus-plant- birug-15076-1d1b22cd1e7b448e8977e8f0c146393c https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/plant-lepidodendron-285817777d0d43a3b80e09b1c4607921 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lepidodendron-fossil- vcu-3d-3007-5de305b578d744a588543e162aaa9033
8. How would you describe the pattern of this bark? ______
Here’s how the plant might have looked in life: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lepidodendron-77a3c66e45fe4fcb9c1ab88c32d4ecb0 (zoom in to see scales)
9. What does this remind you of? ______https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/vc/plantae/lycophytes/ 10. How what group is it really part of? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Plantae: Calamites https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/horsetail-calamites-suckowi- pri-50479-7ad1db7fe54e42fda38810df2d51f447 https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/vc/plantae/equisetophytes-sphenophytes/
11. How do these plants get their nickname? ______
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 4 of 7 Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Arthropoda: Meganeuropsis https://harvardmagazine.com/2007/11/dragonfly-html http://www.geologyin.com/2018/01/the-largest-insect-ever-existed-was.html#
12. How big was the wingspan? ______
13. How was oxygen content different during this time period? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Arthropoda: Arthropleura https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/arthropleura-trackway-3-crail- ac7ac70a58da4115acc35cfed12ad7c8 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/dr-arthropleura2-561a30d790934a01ac45742f322b7d1e https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/dr-arthropleura2-561a30d790934a01ac45742f322b7d1e
14. How long was this animal? ______15. How many segments did it have? ______16. What did it probably eat? ______17. What might have eaten it? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Chordata: Helicoprion
This fish is known mostly for its lower teeth. But, man, what teeth they are! https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/helicoprion-11905-c3e77fcd0a5b4e80a4ce52dbc492c036 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HZtnhAfQfA https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/prehistoric-ghost-shark-helicoprions-spiral- toothed-jaw-explained/
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 5 of 7 18. How long was this “shark”—and was it really a shark at all? ______
19. On which end of the spiral did new teeth grow? ______
20. What is the best analogy you can make for how it bit its prey? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Chordata: Eryops https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/eryops-skull-27e41754535b48879d15e539a16623c7 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/eryops-final-be34c85f997b4b4981babc3bce7b358d http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossils/amphibians/Eryops/Eryops.htm
21. What does the shape of the skull most remind you of? ______
22. What do the shape of the teeth suggest to you about how it ate? ______
23. What manner of animal was this? (i.e. amphibian, reptile, mammals). ______
24. About how much did these suckers weigh? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Chordata: Dimetrodon https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/dimetrodon-grandis-21c7948d4d1e4c219ff6af19f71c8088 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/dimetrodon-7a1ae59684274eac8b5fc9266e735421 https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-009-0117-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR3OOP9mImI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1CRfkO0Bvo
25. What do its teeth suggest about how it ate? ______
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 6 of 7 Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
26. What about its teeth is a new evolutionary invention that so many animals exhibit today?
27. Why is it called Dimetrodon? ______
28. How much did these weigh? ______
29. True/False: Dimetrodon went extinct before the first dinosaurs about the same amount of time as T. rex went extinct before us.
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Chordata: Lystrosaurus https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lystrosaurus-sp-d140b540281c4eba905c20475abe7712 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IacDo1fHXG8
30. Give that this was a herbivore, what do you think could have been the use of the two “tusks” it had? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Phylum Chordata: Gorgonopsia https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/gorgonopsid- inostrancevia-0e8c8553bee54519a4aba427366d1d3c https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/gorgonops-inostrancevia- e8311d80dc8247f6bbb6974811e3e3a8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMFOCSrMai4
31. Let’s talk about those canines. What do you think these were for? ______
32. How long was this animal? ______
33. What living animal does this remind you of? ______
Please answer these questions in your Word doc.
Geology 121 Lab 10: Carboniferous-Permian, page 7 of 7