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Palaeozoology, also spelled as Paleozoology (
Greek:
παλαιόν, ''palaeon'' "old" and
ζῷον, ''zoon'' "animal"), is the branch of
paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
,
paleobiology, or
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
dealing with the recovery and identification of
multicellular
A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organism.
All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni- ...
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
remains from
geological (or even
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
) contexts, and the use of these
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s in the reconstruction of
prehistoric
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
s and
ancient ecosystems.
Definitive, macroscopic remains of these
metazoa
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
ns are found in the
fossil record from the
Ediacaran
The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...
period of the
Neoproterozoic era onwards, although they do not become common until the Late
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
period in the latter half of the
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
era.
Perhaps the best known
macrofossils group is the
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s. Other popularly known animal-derived macrofossils include
trilobite
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...
s,
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s,
echinoderms
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea li ...
,
brachiopods,
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s,
bony fish
Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...
es,
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s,
Vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...
, and
shells of numerous
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
groups. This is because hard organic parts, such as bones, teeth, and shells resist decay, and are the most commonly preserved and found animal fossils. Exclusively
soft-bodied animals—such as
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...
,
flatworm
The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...
s,
nematode
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...
s, and
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s—are consequently rarely
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
ized, as these groups do not produce hard organic parts.
Vertebrate Paleozoology
Vertebrate paleozoology refers to the use of morphological, temporal, and stratigraphic data to map vertebrate history in evolutionary theory.
Vertebrates are classified as a subphylum of Chordata, a phylum used to classify species adhering to a rod-shaped, flexible body type called a notochord.
They differ from other phyla in that other phyla may have cartilage or cartilage-like tissues forming a sort of skeleton, but only vertebrates possess what we define as bone.
Classes of vertebrates listed in chronological order from oldest to most recent include heterostracans, osteostracans, coelolepid agnathans, acanthodians, osteichthyan fishes, chondrichthyan fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. All vertebrates are studied under standard evolutionary generalizations of behavior and life process, although there is controversy over whether population can be accurately estimated from limited fossil resources.
Evolutionary origins of vertebrates as well as the phylum Chordata have not been scientifically determined. Many believe vertebrates diverged from a common ancestor of chordates and echinoderms. This belief is well supported by the prehistoric marine creature Amphioxus. Amphioxus does not possess bone, making it an invertebrate, but it has common features with vertebrates including a segmented body and a notochord. This could imply that Amphioxus is a transitional form between an early chordate, echinoderm or common ancestor, and vertebrates.
Quantitative Paleozoology
Quantitative paleozoology is a process of taking a census of fossil types rather than inventory. They differ in that inventory refers to a detailed log of individual fossils, whereas census attempts to group individual fossils to tally the total number of a species. This information can be used to determine which species were most dominant and which had the largest population at a time period or in a geological region.
In the early 1930s, paleontologists Chester Stock and
Hildegarde Howard devised special units for quantitative paleozoology and quantitative paleontology. The first unit used, Number of Identified Species (NISP), specified exact quantity of fossils from a specific species recorded. Stock and Howard determined this unit to be problematic for quantitative purposes as an excess of a small fossil—such as teeth—could exaggerate quantity of the species. There was also an amount of confusion as to whether bone fragments should be assembled and counted as one bone or tallied individually.
Stock and Howard then devised the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI), which estimated the minimum number of animals needed to produce the fossils recorded.
For example, if five scapulae from a species were found, it might be difficult to determine whether some of them were paired right and left on one individual or whether each came from a different individual, which could alter census, but it could be said that there must be at least three individuals to produce five scapulae. Three would thus be the MNI.
In rare cases where enough of a collection of fossils can be assembled into individuals as to provide an accurate number of individuals, the unit used is Actual Number of Individuals, or ANI.
Another unit commonly used in quantitative paleozoology is biomass. Biomass is defined as the amount of tissue in an area or from a species.
It is calculated by estimating an average weight based on similar modern species and multiplying it by the MNI. This yields an estimate of how much the entire population of a species may have weighed.
Problems with this measurement include the difference in weight between youngsters and adults, seasonal weight changes due to diet and hibernation, and the difficulty of accurately estimating the weight of a creature with only a skeletal reference.
It is also difficult to determine exact age of fossilized matter within a year or a decade, so a biomass might be grossly exaggerated or under exaggerated if the estimated time frame in which the fossils were alive is incorrect.
A similar measurement to biomass is meat weight.
To determine meat weight, MNI is multiplied by the amount of meat an individual is thought to have provided, then multiplied by the percentage of that meat thought to be edible. This gives an estimate of “pounds of usable meat” per individual which might have been harvested by prehistoric hunters.
For example, a male Wapiti has an average weight of 400 kg, and in a particular study, the MNI of Wapiti was found to be 10. This would create a biomass of 4,000 kg. If the amount of edible meat is estimated at 50 percent, this would result in a meat weight of 2,000 kg.
The biggest problem with this method is the debate over “percent of usable meat.” Different views on which parts of a species are edible and which are not as well as whether or not primitive butchers would have been able to access and prepare different parts have led to controversy.
Conservation Biology
Paleozoological data is used in research concerning
conservation biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...
. Conservation biology refers to biological study used for conservation, control, and preservation of various species and
ecosystems. In this context, the paleozoological data used is obtained from recently deceased decomposing matter rather than prehistoric matter.
R. Lee Lyman, Professor and Chair Department of Anthropology at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
,
writes that paleozoological research can provide data such as extinction rates and causes and “benchmark” peaks and drops in population which can be used to predict future patterns and to design maximally effective methods of controlling these patterns.
In addition, paleozoological data can be used to compare current to former population and distribution of a species.
See also
*
Animalia
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
, taxonomic kingdom of
*
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s
*
History of invertebrate paleozoology
The history of invertebrate paleozoology (also spelled ''palaeozoology'') differs from the history of paleontology in that the former usually emphasizes paleobiology and the paleoecology of extinct marine invertebrates, while the latter typically ...
*
Index fossils—a.k.a. guide fossils
*
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s
*
Invertebrate paleontology
Invertebrate paleontology (also spelled invertebrate palaeontology) is sometimes described as invertebrate paleozoology or invertebrate paleobiology.
Whether it is considered to be a subfield of paleontology, paleozoology, or paleobiology, this d ...
covers most animal phyla
*
Macrofossils—easily visible fossil evidence
*
Metazoa
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
—animal kingdom
*
Microfossils—microscopic fossil evidence
*
Micropaleontology
*
Paleobiology—biology and paleontology
*
Paleobotany
Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...
*
Taxonomy of commonly fossilised invertebrates
Although the phylogenetic classification of non-vertebrate animals (both extinct and extant) remains a work-in-progress, the following taxonomy attempts to be useful by combining both traditional (old) ''and'' new (21st-century) paleozoological ...
*
Trace fossils—indirect evidence of prehistoric life
*
Vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s
*
Vertebrate paleontology covers the subphylum Vertebrata
*
Zooarchaeology
*
Zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
References
{{Authority control
Subfields of paleontology
Subfields of zoology
.