KingSepron Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Hi, For the course I'm doing in biology, I have to perform an experiment or study in which something can be measured, and then complete a write up of it. I want to do something palaeontological for this, but my teachers said no study could be done without having to damage fossils. (I am allowed to consult experts for this coursework) Does anyone have any ideas for a method that wouldn't involve damaging the fossils? I am planning to those supplied by my place of education, and some from my own collection. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Funnily enough, I did my degree dissertation on the comparative sizes of species found in the London Clay in different locations. Surely you could do something similar? With shells, teeth, bones or something and work out maximum and minimum sizes at different sites with possible explanations as to the variation? 7 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 33 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Funnily enough Ah, that Cheddar education comes shinning through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 1 hour ago, grandpa said: Ah, that Cheddar education comes shinning through. Yes, sadly my request to do my dissertation on cheese was rejected. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Funnily enough, I've been doing field research on cheese for the major portion of my life. But, I'm not being any help to KingSepron with this diversion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkdoctor Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 @KingSepron A few thoughts here. As @Tidgy's Dad indicates, there are certainly many options for a "study" in paleontology without damaging a single specimen. You can measure (weight, height, length, size), count (teeth per sample), describe (color, texture, morphology, specific gravity, grain size, fine size), relate (number of mako teeth relative to number of great white teeth), survey (Number of paleo nerds (like us!) that use best practices in storing specimens), systemically review (number of published paleo reports that identify report lag layers in the Calvert Formation and their relative location). 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingSepron Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 Thanks! this has been very helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Yeah I'm kind of confused by your teacher's claim. A lot (most?) research does not use destructive methods. Many species of research interest are known from only a few specimens, and thus damaging the fossils at all would be contra any future research. You don't even need fossils in hand to do quantitative research studies. There are quite a few large (and free) databases out there that give descriptions of hundreds if not thousands of specimens, more than any of us could collect in a reasonable amount of time. The paper I'm writing up now makes use of a publicly available database of a couple thousand specimens of Miocene mammals, yet I've never even held any of the fossils in my hands before. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingSepron Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 Update: Teacher said I should move away from this area as there is "no deeper science" in it. I proposed a frequency by depth thing originally. When that was shot down I attempted to pivot to something else but he just told me to move to another area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 thats the problem with school. His classroom, his rules. Id suggest doing things how the teacher wants, just don't let it curtail your love of paleo. Do you own study in your own time. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingSepron Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 2 hours ago, hadrosauridae said: thats the problem with school. His classroom, his rules. Id suggest doing things how the teacher wants, just don't let it curtail your love of paleo. Do you own study in your own time. Are you sure? I feel like I can get my way around if I can prove there's a deeper science to the question (deeper science meaning I can explain the scientific processes that led to the results) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 thats your call to make. Only you can decided if this is a situation of A) trying to challenge you to do the best or B ) doesnt care what you want to write about, and going against him/her is only going to cause irritation and bias against you in the grading. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 I think your teacher is wrong, but some tend to take it badly if one confronts them and you'll possibly end up getting a bad mark in this and maybe other things. Depends how strongly you feel about it. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingSepron Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 After you have finished the class you can point out that one of the most important scientific discoveries ever was influenced by fossils that Darwin found on his expedition. We still learn about climate change, plate tectonics, ecology, evolution, etc from fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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