Re: Fossil Records Show Biodiversity Comes and Goes

From: George (george_at_wtfiswrongwithyou.com)
Date: 03/16/05 

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 21:51:50 GMT

"John Harshman" <jharshman.diespamdie@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:Xx1_d.23761$OU1.21146@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> George wrote:
>
>> "John Harshman" <jharshman.diespamdie@pacbell.net> wrote in message
>> news:5G_Zd.23705$OU1.18044@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
>>
>>>maison.mousse wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Richard Forrest a écrit dans le message
>>>><1110994405.384303.35090@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>maison.mousse wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Richard Forrest a écrit dans le message
>>>>>><1110979481.439372.106740@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>r norman wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>On 16 Mar 2005 00:40:45 -0800, "Richard Forrest"
>>>>>>>><richard@plesiosaur.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>snip>> think that any one can be any kind of paleontologist with out a
>>>>
>>>>back
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>ground
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>in geology.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>JOL
>>>>>
>>>>>Well, I'm a palaeontologist and don't have background in geology. The
>>>>>two palaeontologists I work most closely with have first degrees in
>>>>>zoology, not palaeontology. I know of at least two other vertebrate
>>>>>palaeontologists, one of whom is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology
>>>>>at a major University whose background is that of a zoologist, not a
>>>>>geologist - she freely admits that she doesn't know much about
>>>>>geology. It's not a subject which comes up much in discussion. Very
>>>>>often the geological background is informative but not necessarily
>>>>>relevant, and certainly not relevant to the discipline of taxonomy
>>>>>(which is where this whole line started). For taxonomists, a knowledge
>>>>>of zoology is more important than a knowledge of geology/
>>>>>
>>>>>That geology is a first degree for many palaeontologists is a
>>>>>historical accident rather than a reflection of the nature of the
>>>>>subject. This does not make palaeontology a subset of geology. It
>>>>>isn't. I don't know of any vertebrate palaeontologist (and I say this
>>>>>because those are the people I know) would claim that it is. Yes,
>>>>>palaeontology is a module in geology degrees, but generally it is not
>>>>>taught in any depth. There are also modules in statistics, but nobody
>>>>>would claim that a geologist is a statistician.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Paleontology is more than just description. Unless one knows something about
>>>>the environment that the fossil was preserved in and someone about the
>>>>relative age of the rock, type of rock and relationship to other rocks and
>>>>other fossils, if present , the fossil is just more or less a meaningless
>>>>curiosity.
>>>>What credited university is Paleo not part of the Geology
>>>>department?
>>>
>>>Quite a few of them, including the U. of Chicago. Vertebrate paleo tends
>>>to be in biology departments, invert paleo in geology. And you can
>>>indeed do a lot with fossils in near total ignorance of geology. They
>>>are, after all, the remains of organisms, and biology is of some use in
>>>dealing with organisms.
>>
>> This certainly explains the large numbers of papers that are rejected by the
>> Journal of Paleontolgy ever year.
>
> I doubt it.
>
>> Perhaps if you guys knew something about
>> geology, you wouldn't have such a hard time figuring out why certain fossils
>> are
>> found where they are found, and what paleoenvironment in which they lived.
>> Geologists don't have a problem with this because they have the training it
>> takes to understand the rock record, and what it is telling us about past
>> life
>> on earth.
>
> Paleonvironments, though important, are only one aspect of what can be
> learned from or about extinct species. Most vertebrate paleontologists
> are largely systematists. Is there something wrong with being a
> systematist?

Systematics is important. But it can't tell you about the ecology in which any
life form lived. It can, at best, give you some indication of what to expect.
It can't tell you whether cladistid crinoids ever lived in high energy
environments or low energy environments. Nor can it tell you about a ancient
crinoid's relationships with other life forms in that ecosystem. If you don't
have a holistic approach to paleontology, you are just another taxonomist trying
to pidgeon hole species about which you know very little other than their gross
anatomy.

As an example, consider the following papers/books:

Hess, H., W.I. Ausich, C.E. Brett, and M.J. Simms. 2002. Fossil Crinoids.
Cambridge University Press, 275 p. [paperback edition of 1999 book]

Schneider, K.A., and W.I. Ausich. 2002. Paleoecology of framebuilders in Early
Silurian reefs (Brassfield Formation, southwestern Ohio). Palaios, 19:237-248.

The former is by and large taxonomy and anatomy. Yes, you could probably do this
work with little formal geology training, though I personally doubt it.
However, the latter paper, which describes, or very nearly describes an entire
ecosystem, could not have been completed without a broad background in the
geosciences, biology, chemistry, and physics. While the former is important
work and a great general reference if you want to identify species, it tells
very little about how crinoids lived and evolved in the environment in which
they existed. The latter puts those life forms into their natural habitat, and
gives a very broad perspective of the life forms that contructed such reefs. It
gives a snapshot, if you will, of what ecosystems looked like 380 million years
ago, and how they evolved as a system over time. Paleontology today is about
much more than simply describing and pidgeonholing species.

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