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)