great strategies for teaching paleontology: quaternary faunal environments christopher l. hill boise...
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Great Strategies for Teaching Paleontology:Great Strategies for Teaching Paleontology: Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsQuaternary Faunal Environments
Christopher L. HillBoise State University, Boise, Idaho;
chill2@boisestate.edu
On the Cutting Edge - Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century On the Cutting Edge - Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century Cornell University and the Paleontological Research Institute, Ithaca, NYCornell University and the Paleontological Research Institute, Ithaca, NY
Outline of PresentationOutline of Presentation
Introduction: What is this activity?ContextGoalsActivity DescriptionAdaptations
Introduction: Introduction: What is this activity?What is this activity?
Use online database FAUNMAP
Compare spatial distribution of mammals
Look at patterns of extinct and extant taxa
Create inferences about past environments
ContextContextDesigned for upper-division undergraduate
course in Quaternary Paleontology
Majors in geosciences, geoarchaeology, environmental studies, anthropology
Familiarity with using online resources a basic requirement
GoalsGoals
Use present-day (late Holocene) as a basis for understanding past environments
Link to paleoecological patterns
Use online data-sets to observe patterns and develop inferences
DescriptionDescriptionStudy environments of living North
American mammalsLog-on to FAUNMAP:
http://www.museum.state.il.us/research/faunmap/query/
Dowload distribution maps◦ Taxon◦ Time Interval
Evaluate patternsGraded products:
◦Set of questions◦Written Report
Class Mammalia Species (* = extinct in North America)
Order Didelphimorpha Family Didelphidae Opossum
Order Xenartha Family Dasypodidae Armadillo
Family Megatheridae Shasta groundsloth*
Family Mylondontidae Harlan's ground sloth*
Order Insectivora Family Soricidae Arctic shrew
Order Carnivora Family Canidae Dire wolf*, gray wolf
Family Felidae Cheetah*, saberooth cat*, lion*
Family Mustelidae Black-footed ferret
Order Proboscidea Columbian mammoth*, Jefferson's mammoth*, woolly mammoth*, mastodon*
Order Perrissodactyla Horse (Mexican horse*)
Order Artiodactyla Family Camelidae Yesterday's camel*
Family Cervidae Stag moose*, caribou
Family Bovidae Harlan's muskox*, muskox
Family Antilocapridae Pronghorn
Order Rodentia Family Muridae Eastern woodrat
Order Lagomorpha Family Lepordae Pygmy rabbit, swamp rabbit
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironmentsUsing FAUNMAPat http://www.museum.state.il.us/research/faunmap/query/
Query the Database
oList of taxa codes oList of age codes
Faunmap Query Form (scientific names) Faunmap Query Form (common names)
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Taxon:
If we have it for this taxon, do you want the modern distribution?Yes No
Antilocapra americana Arctocephalus townsendi Alces alces Ammospermophilus harrisii Ammospermophilus interpres Ammospermophilus leucurus Ammospermophilus nelsoni Antrozous pallidus Aplodontia rufa ARTIODACTYLA Arctodus pristinus Arctodus simus Alopex lagopus
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Pick the time periods you want to study (note: for some species not all time periods will be
represented).
[wiho][wisc][lwsc][late][ehlg][holo][emho][mhol][lmho][lhol][hiho][hist][ALL]
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Rangifer tarandus (caribou) ALL (Pleistocene and late Holocene) and only late Holocene
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Groundsloth Modern Opossum Extinct Armadillo
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Pronghorn Cheetah
Quaternary Faunal Quaternary Faunal EnvironmentsEnvironments
Columbia Jeffersonian Woolly
AdaptationsAdaptations
Map downloading could be a team project
If computers are not available, make maps available (good for observation > inference part of the activity)
I tried letting the students pick taxa themselves (small mammals, large mammals, extinct mammals)
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