RE: paleonet Suggestions for intro paleo lab

[Thomas Yancey <yancey@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

Please describe a little more of the objectives and operation of the
gastropod morphometrics exercise. In our course, the students have often
found that measuring shells and calculating numbers for them just as dry
and boring as doing a taxonomic survey of a fossil group. Calculating some
statistical results needs to have some 'real' application to make it of
interest. What are your goals for this exercise that will give students an
appreciation for the use of the method? I find it easy to provide
ecologic/environmental context for fossil groups, but hard to justify the
mechanical routine of gathering measurements of a large group of specimens.

Tom Yancey


>I just wanted to add my two cents to Jennifer's question.  Here at Iowa, the
>first paleontology course is a principles course.  We spend less time
>focusing
>on the taxonomy and more time on the methods that paleontologists use.  We
>have two major projects in the course - morphometrics of gastropods and
>paleoecology of molluscs from the South Florida area.  We have two field
>trips
>and a few labs which are designed to introduce the students to basic
>systematics and morphology.  This course has evolved into the extreme
>opposite
>to the course the Jennifer has described.
>
snip
>
>John
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>John P. Dawson
>Ph.D. Candidate - Department of Geoscience
>121 Trowbridge Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
>E-mail: jdwsn@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu; Phone: (319)-335-1818; Fax: (319)-335-1821


Thomas E. Yancey
Dept. Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-3115
ph: 979-845-0643
tyancey@tamu.edu