PALEONTOLOGY AND PALEOCOLOGY

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

PALECO

Academic Year of enrolment:

2021

Year of supply:

2023/2024

Type of Course:

Related/Supplementary

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in CULTURAL HERITAGE

Disciplinary Sector:

Palaeontology and Palaeoecology

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

CAPASSO LUIGI

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

108

Prerequisites:

None

Objectives

The main knowledge learned by the student in the course of Paleontology concerns the physical-chemical processes that led to the origin of fossils, the use of fossils in paleoenvironmental reconstructions, in dating sedimentary succession, in biological and paleobiogeographic evolution. The knowledge acquired in the course of Paleontology will allow the student to choose and apply the most appropriate paleontological methodologies in the observation and analysis of geological processes and in the study and interpretation of sedimentary succession. They will also allow them to evaluate the role and importance of fossil record in the physical and biological evolution of the Earth and as environmental and cultural assets.

Contents

The course aims to illustrate the conservation processes, in particular the fossilization process, the history of life on Earth, the various aspects of the taphonomic process and the main systematic groups among plants, invertebrates and vertebrates (their stratigraphic distribution and meaning in paleoecological and paleobiogeographical reconstruction).

Extended Syllabus

PART I: GENERAL PALEONTOLOGY.
Definition and areas of Paleontology, history of Paleontology, definition of fossil.
Taphonomy: biostratinomy, fossilization processes and diagenesis.
Pseudo-fossils.
Fossils and rocks: fossils as components of rocks, sedimentary environments, fossil deposits.
Applied paleontology (the use of fossils): paleobiology, biostratigraphy and evolution, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, paleogeography.
Paleontological dating: absolute chronology, relative chronology, geological time scale.
Life and landscape in the history of the Earth: Precambrian Era, Archaeozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Cenozoic Era.
Origin and early development of life on Earth: origin of organic compound, origin of membranes, origin of reproduction, first cells, first metazoans, Ediacara's biome, "Cambrian Explosion".

PART II: SISTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY.
The paleontological systematics and the problem of the fossil species: the paleontological species (morphological species and typological species), the paleontological systematics, the paleontological domains.
Protozoa.
Paleobotany: non-vascular plants, vascular plants.
Paleozoology of invertebrates.
Paleontology of vertebrates.
Human paleontology.
Paleo-ichnology.

PART III: PALEONTOLOGICAL PRACTICE.
The paleontological excavation.
The restoration and conservation of fossils.
Paleontological musealization.
Legislation on the protection and enhancement of paleontological goods in Italy, in the European community and in non-European countries.

Recommended Bibliography

The texts are the same for attending and not attending students.

SOCIETA' PALEONTOLOGICA ITALIANA (a cura di), Manuale di Paleontologia. Fondamenti-Applicazioni. Edizioni Idelson-Gnocchi, Napoli, 2020.

Material delivered during lectures (available at the Institute of Anthropology).

Teaching Methods

Frontal lectures

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral exam. It is required the preparation of a short-written dissertation paper on a topic chosen among those discussed during the course. The exam is considered passed if the student reaches the minumum grade of 18/30.

Contacts/More Information

Student reception: before and after classes.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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