NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

BIOL 2262 EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

LAB #3: FOSSILS

BACKGROUND AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIELD WORK

We will be palaeontologists for the day. Palaeontology is the discovery, identification and interpretation
of fossils, and requires a good knowledge of geology (the science of the composition and structure of the
Earth).

We will be visiting a lower Tertiary (Palaeogene) fossil site at North Manzanilla Bay.

The purpose of this exercise is to study the fossils and sedimentary layers in which they are found, in
order to better understand the clues they provide about the species present and the characteristics of
the environment at the time they were alive (before dying and being preserved as fossils).

PLEASE WEAR SENSIBLE SHOES AND LOOSE CLOTHING/LONG TROUSERS. BRING WATER, FOOD, AN
UMBRELLA, DRY CLOTHES, A PENCIL, A NOTEPAD AND ANY NECESSARY MEDICATION.

WORK IN GROUPS OF 4-5 PEOPLE IN THE FIELD, BUT EACH PERSON MUST SUBMIT THEIR OWN REPORT.

SITE 1

1. Choose a part of the cliff and using a hammer and a chisel, carefully remove small clumps of
dirt/rock (approximately 15-20cm in width) from 3 layers of the cliff face.

2. Place the 3 clumps of dirt/rock in separate containers/bags labelled layer A, B and C.

3. Take pictures/sketches of site 1 as well as notes of the cliff texture. You can use these pictures to
make sketches later to add to your lab report.

4. Take your samples back to a shady region of the beach and sort. When sorting you must note the
information for the headings outlined in Table 1.

SITE 2

Northward along the beach (to the left as you face the sea) is another set of cliffs with fossil deposits.
Depending on conditions, we may spend a smaller amount of time examining these and taking notes on
how they differ from the deposits that you have just examined.
NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPORT

TITLE:

AIM:

INTRODUCTION:

Include background information on the geology of the North Manzanilla cliffs, how fossils are typically
formed, and what we can learn from looking at them.

METHODOLOGY:

Explain in your own words what you did in the field, and how you sampled the fossils. Include a photo or
diagram showing the cliff face and indicating the locations of your samples.
NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

RESULTS: These must be based on the fossils found in site # 1.

TABLE 1:

SKETCH OF EACH SPECIES CLASSIFICATION QUANTITY IN EACH NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

LAYER

A B C

Phylum: Mollusca 4 6 2

Class: Bivalvia

Phylum: Mollusca 3 5 1

Class:Gastropoda

Phylum: Mollusca 6 7 12
NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

Class: Bivalvia

Phylum: Mollusca 14 21 18

Class: Gastropoda

DISCUSSION:

1- Make notes on the various layers of sediments in the cliff formations.

a. Are the fossils restricted to certain layers, or are they randomly distributed?

b. Can the fossil layers be followed for a long distance along the cliffs, or are they localized
to a small section of the cliffs?

c. Describe the texture of the sediments in different layers. Are the sediments formed of
fine or coarse grains? Are they formed of sand, silt or rocks?
NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

d. Describe the angle of inclination of the layers. Are the layers horizontal, vertical or
somewhere in between? Is the angle consistent or does it vary?

2- Make notes on the various fossils found.

a. To what phyla and classes do the fossilised specimens belong?

b. Do the fossils belong to soft- or hard-bodied organisms? What kinds of body parts are
preserved?

c. Compare your samples with those of other groups in about the same layer and in
different layers of the cliff. How does the composition of species vary between different
samples?

3- Discuss how the fossils were likely formed.

a. Considering the fossils found, what kind of an environment do you think they occurred
in before they were buried? Was it a terrestrial, freshwater or marine environment?

b. Describe the environmental conditions when the fossils were formed. Think about the
various scenarios in which the organisms were preserved. Do you think they were buried
as a result of normal geological processes (e.g., buried by sand thrown up on a beach by
waves) or during a catastrophic process (e.g., volcano)? Do you think this process
occurred above or below water?

4- Think about how you would undertake a systematic study of the fossils at this site.

a. Describe how you would quantify the species found at different layers and the relative
time in which each layer was buried.

b. Do you think that the age of the fossils can be assessed? If so, describe how.

REFERENCES- Must be in Chicago Style Manual 16th Edition https://www.google.tt/url?

sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiX25GwvMLPAhVLJR4KHTry
NAME: ID: DEMONSTRATOR:

Dg4QFgghMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmainlib.uwi.tt%2Fdivisions%2Fagr%2Fguides%2FFINAL1%2520CMS
%2520AUTHOR%2520DATE-edited%2520SR%2520apr
%25202012.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHXkXRrFCoRc1GX9jkGhG09aAzzjw&sig2=bNrAOWGNTJryciU7FB4RYw&bv
m=bv.134495766,d.dmo