Chapter 10
Paleozoic World
Chapter Outline:
I.
Early Paleozoic
a. Evolution’s Big Bang
b. Exceptionally Preserved Fossils and Cambrian Biodiversity
c. Cambrian Extinctions
d. Ordovician Sea Level and Tectonics
e. Ordovician Marine Life
f. Early Forays onto the Land
g. Ordovician Glaciation and extinction
II.
Middle Paleozoic
a. Silurian-Devonian Tectonics and Sea Level
b. Mid-Paleozoic Marine Life
c. Life on Land
d. Devonian Glaciation and Biotic Crisis
III. Late Paleozoic
a. Late Paleozoic Climatic Changes and Sea Level History
b. Calcite ad Aragonite Seas
c. Late Paleozoic Marine Life
d. Late Paleozoic Terrestrial Life
e. Permian Extinction
Key Terms:
epeiric seas
sauk sequence
tippecanoe sequence
kaskaskia sequence
absoroka sequence
cambrian explosion
small shelly fossils
archaeocyaths
trilobites
brachiopods
conodonts
chordates
graptolites
taconic orgogeny
caledonian orogeny
euramerica
acadian orogeny
tectonosedimentary cycle
antler orogeny
placoderms
rhyniophytes
gymnosperms
crossopterygians
wilson cycle
ouachita orogeny
sonoman orogeny
milankovitch cycles
cyclothems
coal swamps
synapsids
pelycosaurs
In-Class Activities:
Instructor Notes for In-Class Activity 1
Title:
Cambrian Explosion: Most major animal groups appear in the rock
record about 545 million years ago. Why?
Time:
5-10 minutes prep; 40– 60 minutes in class (or can assign research
between class periods)
Materials:
Internet required. Print worksheets as handouts.
Handouts:
A list of questions for students to research and discuss. Information on
the “Cambrian Explosion” in the textbook can be found under the section
“Evolution’s Big Bang”. The following websites also have useful and
interesting reference information to answer the following questions.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/4/l_034_02.html
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Cambrian/Index.html
http://www.peripatus.gen.nz/Paleontology/CamExp.html
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/levinton.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-cambrian-explosion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion
Procedures:
Have students review the section “Evolution’s Big Bang” in the textbook.
Also, the above listed web references can be used by the students to
answer the following 10 questions.
1) Define the term “Cambrian Explosion”.
2) Did the Cambrian explosion occur before, during or after the existence
of the Edicaran fauna?
3) List two possible causes for the “Cambrian Explosion”.
4) What is the evolutionary importance of the “Cambrian Explosion”?
5) What is the “Small Shelly Fauna”, and why is it important from an
evolutionary context?
6) What types of organisms are preserved in the “Burgess Shale”.
7) Does the Burgess Shale provide geologists with a view of Cambrian
systems different than commonly found in such rocks? If not, explain. If
so, explain.
8) Is the “Cambrian Explosion” an example of converegent, divergent
(also called adaptive radiation) or parallel evolution? Explain.
9) List four new life forms that were introduced during the “Cambrian
Explosion”.
10) List an example of an evolutionary dead-end organism found within
the Burgess Shale.
Student
Instructions: See above.
Specific
Suggestions:
Objectives:
The instructor should point out that the Cambrian explosion is important
because most major groups of complex animals appeared around 530
million years ago as evidenced by the fossil record.
Students should be able to:
Briefly describe the fossil assemblages found in the small shell fauna and
the Burgess Shale.
Describe when and why the “Cambrian Explosion” occurred.
Contrast the fossils found before the “Cambrian Explosion” with those
found after.
Describe evolutionary significance of the “Cambrian Explosion”.
In-Class Activity 1: Handout
For about 4 billion years, evolution produced little beyond algae, plankton and bacteria. There is
no record of large animals. Between 570 and 530 million years ago, something remarkable
happened. A burst of evolution appears to have produced the lineages of almost all animals
living today. This burst of evolution is commonly called the “Cambrian Explosion”. The
purpose of today’s in-class exercise is to learn about the fundamentals of what scientists have
learned about the “Cambrian Explosion”.
First, read the “Evolution’s Big Bang” section of your textbook. Next use the following
resources to answer the below questions.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/4/l_034_02.html
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Cambrian/Index.html
http://www.peripatus.gen.nz/Paleontology/CamExp.html
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/levinton.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-cambrian-explosion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion
1) Define the term “Cambrian Explosion”.
2) Did the Cambrian explosion occur before, during or after the existence of the Edicaran fauna?
3) List two possible causes for the “Cambrian Explosion”.
4) What is the evolutionary importance of the “Cambrian Explosion”?
5) What is the “Small Shelly Fauna”, and why is it important from an evolutionary context?
6) What types of organisms are preserved in the “Burgess Shale”.
7) Does the Burgess Shale provide geologists with a view of Cambrian systems different than
commonly found in such rocks? If not, explain. If so, explain.
8) Is the “Cambrian Explosion” an example of convergent, divergent (also called adaptive
radiation) or parallel evolution? Explain.
9) List four new life forms that were introduced during the “Cambrian Explosion”.
10) List an example of an evolutionary dead-end organism found within the Burgess Shale.
Your graded answers will be handed back to you next week. Carefully go over your graded lab
next week to prepare for a test in the near future.
Instructor Notes for In-Class Activity 2
Title:
The Permian Extinction: Also known as the great dying.
Time:
5 – 10 minutes prep; 50 – 60 minutes in class (or can assign research
between class periods)
Materials:
Print instruction sheets as handouts.
Handouts:
A list of questions for students to answer and discuss and recommended
websites. Video pertaining to the Permian Extinction can be found on the
following websites. Students will answer the questions after watching
these video clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDbz2dpebhQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxvsF0vPE5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyIoUaUAfJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTFziCCJgwA
The section titled “Permian Extinction” in the textbook is also an
excellent reference for answering the below questions.
Procedures:
Hand out instruction sheets to students. Use the websites listed above,
and the section titled “Permian Extinction” in Ch. 10 of the textbook, to
answer the questions as follows.
Watch the first video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDbz2dpebhQ
1) Did the Permian extinction occur before or after the existence of
the dinosaurs? Between which geologic periods did it occur?
2) When did the Permian extinction occur, and what might the
Siberian traps have to do with it?
3) Is global warming or cooling thought to be responsible for the
Permian extinction? What caused the temperature change? How
much temperature change is thought to have occurred to cause the
Permian extinction?
Watch the second video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxvsF0vPE5E
4) How does the fossil content above the Permian-Triassic boundary
differ from below the boundary?
5) What happened to the burrowing as the geologist went into the
Triassic rocks? What does this tell him about what happened to
small animals after the Permian extinction?
Watch the third video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyIoUaUAfJo
6) Which two types of animals survived the Permian extinction and
competed on land during the Triassic? Who won this Triassic
competition?
7) What were the mammal-like creatures that survived the Permian
extinction like (briefly describe them)?
Now watch the fourth and last clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTFziCCJgwA
8) What is thought to have caused the deserts to spread during the
Permian?
9) What sorts of animals thrived in the Permian deserts?
10) How did the spread of the deserts affect large amphibians?
If time remains, ask the students to discuss how the “Permian Extinction”
affected the evolution of life, and provided opportunities for new species
to appear.
Student
Instructions: See above
Specific
Suggestions:
The instructor should emphasize that the students should study the affect
of the “Permian Extinction” on the evolution of life.
Students should be able to:
State when the Permian extinction occurred in millions of years ago, and
using geologic periods.
Describe the possible relationship between global warming, the “Permian
Extinction”, and the Siberian flood basalts.
Describe the affects of the “Permian Extinction” on life on land and in
the oceans.
Describe the affects of the “Permian Extinction” on biological evolution.
In-Class Activity 2: Handout
Objectives:
About 245 million years ago, the greatest mass extinction that has ever occurred on the Earth
wiped out 90-95% of marine species, and more than half of land species. The demise of these
organisms would lead to a wealth of evolutionary opportunities for the survivors, including the
dinosaurs. The purpose of this in-class exercise is to introduce you and your group to the
geologic evidence for this biological catastrophe, and to study the effects of this event on life on
our planet.
Hand out instruction sheets to students. Use the websites listed above, and the section titled
“Permian Extinction” in Ch. 10 of the textbook, to answer the questions as follows.
Watch the first video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDbz2dpebhQ
1) Did the Permian extinction occur before or after the existence of the dinosaurs? Between
which geologic periods did it occur?
2) When did the Permian extinction occur, and what might the Siberian traps have to do
with it?
3) Is global warming or cooling thought to be responsible for the Permian extinction? What
caused the temperature change? How much temperature change is thought to have
occurred to cause the Permian extinction?
Watch the second video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxvsF0vPE5E
4) How does the fossil content above the Permian-Triassic boundary differ from below the
boundary?
5) What happened to the burrowing as the geologist went into the Triassic rocks? What
does this tell him about what happened to small animals after the Permian extinction?
Watch the third video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyIoUaUAfJo
6) Which two types of animals survived the Permian extinction and competed on land
during the Triassic? Who won this Triassic competition?
7) What were the mammal-like creatures that survived the Permian extinction like (briefly
describe them)?
Now watch the fourth and last clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTFziCCJgwA
8) What is thought to have caused the deserts to spread during the Permian?
9) What sorts of animals thrived in the Permian deserts?
10) How did the spread of the deserts affect large amphibians?
If time remains, ask the students to discuss how the “Permian Extinction” affected the evolution
of life, and provided opportunities for new species. By answering these questions you will be
preparing for a future quiz and/or test.