Fossils and Evolution

Fossils
Remains of Ancient Plants And Animals,
Evidence of Life
Marine Energy M.Sc. Course
Prof. Dr. M.M. El-Gammal

Amazing Events in Life History

Sex - Who Needs It?
We are a team - Mitochondria
The Great Freeze 900-600 m.y. ago
What survived and how?

Mass Extinctions
Dinosaurs = 4th worst
Permian extinction (220 m.y. ago) took out
90% of all species

Mass Extinctions

Classification of Dogs and Humans

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order Carnivora (Dogs) Primates (Humans)
Family Canidae
Hominidae
Genus Canis
Homo
Species familiaris
sapiens

Actually, I considered
this an extreme honor.
Besides, I knew no one
was going to write and
ask to name a new
species of swan after
me. You have to grab
these opportunities
when they come along.

Strigiphilus
garylarsoni

The Five Kingdom System

Animals
Plants
Protista (one-celled organisms)
Fungi
Bacteria*
Ediacaran Fossils? (ca. 700 m.y. ago)

Whats Bigger Than a Kingdom?

Bacteria differ from all other kingdoms in
lacking a cell nucleus
We need a bigger box
Superkingdoms or Domains
Monera (Bacteria)
Archaea
Eukarya (have cell nucleus)

Need electron microscopes and molecular

biology to see differences

Rarely Preserved
Soft or Easily Decayed Parts of Organisms:
Internal Organs
Skin
Hair
Feathers

Types of Fossils

Original Material
Casts & Molds
Replacement (Petrified Wood)
Carbonized Films (Leaves)
Footprints, Tracks, Etc.
Trace Fossils Our only preserved record of
behavior of fossil organisms

Pseudofossils
Look Like Fossils But Aren't
Dendrites
Concretions

Pseudofossils

A Pseudofossil

Natural or Sculpture?

Johannes Beringers Fossils

Beringers
Book

Where Fossils Occur

Almost Exclusively in Sedimentary Rocks
Heat of Melting or Metamorphism Would Destroy
Almost Every Type of Fossil
Rare Exceptions:
Some Fossils in Low-grade Metamorphic Rocks
Trees Buried by Lava Flow

To Be Preserved, Organisms Have to Be:

Buried Rapidly After Death
Preserved From Decay

Good Index Fossils

Abundant
Widely-distributed (Global Preferred)
Short-lived or Rapidly Changing

Correlation

The Geologic Time Scale

Quaternary

Latin, fourth

1822

Tertiary

Latin, third

1760

Cretaceous

Latin creta, chalk

1822

Jurassic

Jura Mountains, Switzerland

1795

Triassic

Latin, three-fold

1834

Permian

Perm, Russia

1841

Carboniferous

Carbon-bearing

1822

Devonian

Devonshire, England

1840

Silurian

Silures, a pre-Roman tribe

1835

Ordovician

Ordovices, a pre-Roman tribe

1879

Cambrian

Latin Cambria, Wales

1835