| Geology 105 - Paleontology | ||||||
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At the end of this lab, you should be able to:
I. Soft part morphology - use fig. 13.2 to identify the lophophore and the muscles which open the shell.
II. Hard part morphology - Be able to find the valves, hinge line, beak, fold and sulcus (see fig. 13.6).
Look at the range of morphologies in the different orders of brachiopods. You do not need to memorize these orders. You should understand the morphology well enough to be able to classify a specimen using the descriptions below. Use fig. 13.7 to understand the shape of the valves.
I. Soft part morphology (preserved block): The blue-stained material is the lophophores of the tiny individual zooids.
II. Hard part morphology (preserved block): Look carefully at the pores in the colony. Notice that the depressions do not contain septa, as corals would.
Be able to find the pores, and notice the variety in the shapes of the colonies. Shape, as in modern corals, is strongly tied to the environment - massive shapes in high energy water, delicate shapes in quiet water.
1. Resin block - Look carefully at the lightly stained tissues in this modern example of Lingula. Find the spiral support and the feathery tentacles of the lophophore.
2. #646 - From the preservation of this brachiopod, is it articulate or inarticulate? What order does it belong to?
3. #1389 - What is the function of the large hole in the beak? How could you be sure this is not a clam?
4. #1258 - From what we know about the life habit of living inarticulates, deduce whether this is an accumulation of dead brachiopods, or a catastrophic burial of living brachs.
5. #962 - How is this fossil preserved? What order does this species belong to?
6. #1520 - Look closely at the shell structure of this strophomenid. Is this impunctate, punctate, or pseudopunctate? Can you tell by looking at the outside of the shell (be sure you look at the shell itself, not the encrusting sponges)?
7. #1257 - Is this a complete shell? How could you tell?
8. #354 - What order of brachiopods does this specimen belong to?
9. #569 - VERY GENTLY try to open this modern brach. Why doesn't it open?
10. #1216 - These are productid brachiopods.
11. No #11.
12. #1523 - These brachiopods are mislabeled as rhynchonellids, but they are actually the orthid Platystrophia. What characteristics tell you they are really orthids? What characteristics do they have in common with rhynchonellids? This is an excellent example of convergent evolution.
13. #953 - This specimen of Raphinesquina has evidence of two types of organisms attached to the shell.
14. Place these brachiopods in their proper orders.
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15. Examine one of the slabs of Ordovician rock from Cincinnati. Are these accumulations of dead organisms, or a catastrophic burial of living organisms.? How many kinds of brachiopods can you identify (to genus level - every brach in the slab is displayed somewhere in the lab today).
16. #642, 1095Prasopora was a massive colony of bryozoa shaped something like a gumdrop. Find the cross-section through the colony to see the poorly preserved autopores of the zooicia.
17. #53 - Find the autopores in this fenestrellid bryozoan. In life, how would the lacy structure of this bryozoan be oriented? Explain the perforations in the colony - what is the advantage of being shaped this way?
18. #1335 - Contrast the delicate structure of this bryozoan with Prasopora. What differences would you expect to find in the environments in which each lived?
19. Unlabeled slides. Look at the cross-section through this bryozoan. Using fig. 13.18, find the mature region, immature region, autopores and mesopores.