Practical 2: Trilobites and Graptolites

The aims of this practical are as follows: 1. 2. 3. !. To teach you how to identify and describe trilobites and graptolites. To enable you to understand these groups in the context of their mode of life. To help you to begin to think about how classifications of fossils are achie ed. To introduce concepts relating to biostratigraphy.

"t the end of it you should be able to 1. 2. 3. !. #raw and describe any trilobite or graptolite$ identifying any unusual features. #efine to some extent the age of a rock containing one of these fossils. %se taxonomic nomenclature with confidence and understanding. &ritically appraise biostratigraphic statements or data sets.

"ssessment will be by exam$ in the normal practical slots of week '. The practical is di ided into four sections. (ou can do these in any order. )ome re*uire specimens$ while others are based on data included in this booklet. )upplementary specimens and information are arranged on the long bench along the side of the lab.

)ection 1: Trilobites (ou are pro ided with two trilobites. " demonstration of other specimens is laid out on the side bench. For each of your two specimens you should prepare detailed and careful, scaled and annotated drawings. You should also describe the fossil in words, using the appropriate technical terms. You should be careful to identify the view you are drawing, is it front, back, side, and so on. Also you should be careful to include values in your description for example, how many segments, how long is the thorax. You should use pencil and draw large outlines, rather than shading. The purpose of these is to enable you to identify the fossil and to note any unusual features which may be diagnostic of a particular age or life habit. &areful obser ations are the key to palaeontology. +nformation is included in the following part of the booklet to help you identify and interpret such features. For each of your specimens you should attempt to identify the fossil to generic level and comment on its mode of life ,if you don-t know what generic means$ lea e this bit until you ha e done section 3.. Trilobite 1:

Trilobite 2:

" .
/ead or &ephalon

Glabella 1 a raised central area of the head under which was the stomach. &ompound eye 0acial suture 1 a natural break in the exoskeleton to facilitate moulting

Thorax

)egments 1 below each segment was a limb2gill pair.

3.

Pygidium

"xial lobe

Pleural lobe

Trilobites can be useful for dating rocks. They are entirely Palaeo4oic$ with greatest abundance in the &ambrian through &arboniferous. +ndi idual species can offer greater precision.

&.
"ntennae

&ephalon Thorax Pygidium

/ypostome$ mouth located at rear. +n Calymene the hypostome was fixed to the front of the cephalon.

&entral groo e between legs. 0ood was probably manipulated by the legs into this groo e and then mo ed to the mouth. The first leg segments are serrated to pro ide gripping and tearing functions.

6eg2gill pairs. 5ne pair for each segment in the thorax$ probably three under the cephalon and se eral estigial ones under the pygidium.

#.

0igure 1. The main elements of trilobite morphology. ". Calymene$ an 5rdo ician predatory trilobite in dorsal iew$ showing the main$ well calcified$ elements of the carapace. )pecimen ! cm long. 3. Two iews of the same animal enrolled$ showing the tight fit that was made between the front of the cephalon and the back of the pygidium. &. Calymene as it might ha e looked from below$ showing the lightly calcified or organic skeleton including the hypostome$ legs and gills. #. The three main adapti e strategies of trilobites away from a highly conser ed body plan. 6eft$ Trinucleus ,3 cm long)$ a blind trilobite with large frontal pitted region$ which probably had a sensory function. &entre$ Agnostus ,2 mm long.$ a tiny trilobite with much reduced thorax. 7ight$ Selenopeltis ,' cm long.$ a representati e of the extremely spiny adaptation of trilobites.

0igure 3. The life habits of trilobites. These examples should help you to identify the mode of life of most common trilobites$ based on diagnostic features of their anatomy.

Opipeuter ,below. and Pricyclopyge ,right.$ two pelagic trilobites. This life habit was characterised by large eyes with good all round ision$ and a streamlined body form.

Calymene$ an 5rdo ician predatory trilobite$ eating a worm. This trilobite had a rigid hypostome fixed to the front of the cephalon$ and sharp spikes on the limb segments for tearing prey.

Proetus$ an 5rdo ician deposit feeder$ at the end of its feeding trial.

Calymene$ an 5rdo ician predatory trilobite$ eating a worm. This trilobite had a rigid hypostome fixed to the front of the cephalon$ and sharp spikes on the limb segments for tearing prey.

Agnostus$ a tiny &ambrian trilobite with a highly deri ed morphology. This species probably swam 8ust abo e soft sediment and fed using its body ca ity to entrain water from which the limbs remo ed food.

Bergamia$ an 5rdo ician blind trilobite characteristic of deep water$ where it probably fed on suspended food particles.

Ampyx$ an 5rdo ician filter feeder. :ater was drawn through the partly enrolled body and food remo ed with the limbs.

Cybeloides$ an 5rdo ician burrower$ with an ele ated eye designed to emerge from the sediment when the rest of the animal was buried.

Olenus$ a &ambrian trilobite that may ha e been adapted to farming sulphate reducing bacteria in low9oxygen conditions$ a lifestyle seen in modern organisms li ing near deep sea ents and black smokers.

Ampyx$ an 5rdo ician filter feeder. :ater was drawn through the partly enrolled body and food remo ed with the limbs.

Cybeloides$ an 5rdo ician burrower$ with an ele ated eye designed to emerge from the sediment when the rest of the animal was buried.

)ection 2: Graptolites (ou are pro ided with two graptolites. " demonstration of other specimens is laid out on the side bench. For each of your two specimens you should prepare detailed and careful, scaled and annotated drawings. The purpose of these is to enable you to identify the fossil and to note any unusual features which may be diagnostic of a particular age or life habit. +nformation is included in the following part of the booklet to help you identify and interpret such features. For each of your specimens you should attempt to identify the fossil to generic level and comment on its mode of life ,if you don-t know what generic means$ lea e this bit until you ha e done section 3.. "t the end of this exercise you should be able to identify e en broken fragments of graptolite and comment meaningfully on them. Graptolite 1:

Graptolite 2

". ;ema

Theca Thecal bandages 0usellar increments

)icula

3.

scandent reclined

hori4ontal

declined pendent

&.

0igure 1. The main elements of graptolite hard9part morphology. ". Graptoloid ,sicula is 2 mm long.$ 3. Terms for describing the orientation of a graptolite stipe$ &. #ifferent thecal types$ left to right glyptograptid$ dicranograptid$ climacograptid$ hooked monograptid$ in olute. Graptolites are brilliant fossils for dating rocks. The entire range of planktonic graptolites is 5rdo ician to #e onian ,)ilurian in the %<.. +n addition$ monograptids are only found in the )ilurian and #e onian$ multiple9 branched forms only in the 5rdo ician ,beware of cladia9bearing forms..

)ection 3: Taxonomy "ll fossils ha e names$ in fact a long series of names. /ere is the set for us: Phylum =ertebrata &lass >ammalia 5rder Primates 0amily /ominidae Genus Homo )pecies sapiens This set of names re eals the fossil-s family tree and should represent a code for the e olutionary relationships of the group. "t one end of the scale is the phylum name. ? erything within a phylum shares a common ancestor and a common set of general characteristics$ such as symmetry elements or growth patterns. ?ach successi e name represents a smaller subset of organisms that also share a common ancestor with a more precise set of related characteristics. The list also gi es a sense of time. =ertebrates probably e ol ed in the &ambrian$ while the first mammals are >eso4oic in age and primates e ol ed in the &eno4oic. (ou ha e encountered this idea already in Practical 1. &heck that you understand this by examining the family line in the diagram below. +t shows a series of branching lines representing e olutionary e ents that led to the animals named at the top of that line. 5n this diagram draw a set of concentric lines to show what set of these animals constitute each of the categories listed abo e. + ha e drawn in the last of these as an example. ;ote the times$ in millions of years$ at which each group e ol ed.
s cu tus he ec t r i s e l op en mo ra s pi a chimpan4ees Aust ustu Ho s b mo ro o H lemurs

>a 1 1@

kangaroos

A'

frogs

2'@
fish sea urchins

'!' "t the other end of the scale from the phylum$ the genus and species names identify one uni*ue member ,the species. of a small group of closely related organisms ,the genus.. These names are what you usually see on a fossil label$ for example$ Monograptus ,genus. priodon ,species.. )ometimes the name of the person who originally defined this species is added to the name$ for example$ Monograptus priodon ,3ronn.. Genera should always be written in italics or underlined and should begin with a capital letter. )pecies names should always be written in italics or underlined and should begin with a lower case letter. Make sure that the names of your fossils are correctly written. his seems a small point, but it matters.

)ection !: 3iostratigraphy 3iostratigraphy is the use of fossils to date rocks. 5b iously$ this is a relati e date ,younger than$ or older than.$ not an absolute date ,!32 million years.. /owe er$ it can be a ery precise tool of great geological utility. /ere is how it works. )ets of fossils are collected from sedimentary se*uences$ and these data are used to construct a set of ranges for indi idual species. These are then put together to form a pattern of biodi ersity for a period of time. Then any unknown section can be compared to this reference and dated accordingly. #ating is done into units of time called 4ones. These are of unknown length but their se*uence is uni*ue. Bones can be defined on the first or last appearance of a useful fossil$ or by a set of fossils$ or e en by the times when a fossil was most abundant. &learly each of these methods holds potential problems$ and it is a picky but useful thing to know about any particular 4one. Please take a few minutes to think about this problem. !elow is a block diagram showing how using the first appearance of a fossil can cause problems in dating. "an you construct similar diagrams exemplifying the problems that may arise for each of the other types of #one$
%one based on first appearance %one based on last appearance

sm cie e )p

tes ra ig

im rt

Time

%one b&dry diachronous ;ew species e ol es in locality " " 3 " 3

6ocalities
%one based on a group of species %one based on species abundance

Time

"

"

%ones

ata us

acuminatus magnus sedgwickii con olutus argenteus cyphus acinaces

Glyptograptus persculptus Climacograptus normalis Climacograptus medius iplograptus diminutus iplograptus modestus Climacograptus !esiculosus iplograptus longissimus Pristiograptus incommodus Glyptograptus incertus Coronograptus cirrus "agarograptus acinaces Ata!ograptus ata!us #haphidograptus toern$uisti Glyptograptus sinuatus Coronograptus gregarius Pristiograptus %ragilis Monograptus di%%ormis Orthograptus cyperoides Petalograptus concinnus Monograptus %imbriatus #astrites longispinus Petalograptus retro!ersus iplograptus magnus Orthograptus insecti%ormis Monograptus triangulatus Monoclimacis limatulus Monograptus lobi%erus Monograptus sedg&ic'ii Cephalograptus cometa

triangulatus 6ower )ilurian graptolite 4ones and species ranges for the 3ritish +sles 'anges of species

/ere is a real problem in mapping complicated$ faulted and lithologically monotonous units in southern )cotland$ which can be resol ed using graptolite biostratigraphy. + ha e simplified the problem$ but it is a real one$ fully explained in the 3G) >emoir CGeology of the 7hins of Galloway district-$ edited by P. )tone. 5n the facing page are the ranges of some 6ower )ilurian graptolites from the %<. 3elow is the geological problem facing the )ur ey.

7hins of Galloway
)ilurian muds and greywackes with sparse hori4ons containing graptolites. "ll contacts are faults. (sing the faunas preserved at each locality, work out the graptolite #ones to which each block belongs.

" Climacograptus normalis Climacograptus medius iplograptus longissimus Coronograptus cirrus 3 Coronograptus gregarius Glyptograptus sinuatus Petalograptus concinnus Ata!ograptus ata!us & iplograptus magnus Orthograptus insecti%ormis Climacograptus normalis # " 3 &

/ G 0 ?

/ Glyptograptus persculptus Climacograptus medius iplograptus diminutus Climacograptus normalis G "agarograptus acinaces Pristiograptus incommodus Climacograptus normalis 0 Orthograptus cyperoides #astrites longispinus Coronograptus gregarius Climacograptus normalis ? Petalograptus retro!ersus Orthograptus cyperoides Monograptus lobi%erus Monograptus sedg&ic'ii

Bones ": 3: &: #: ?: 0: G: /: /:

# Monograptus %imbriatus Coronograptus gregarius Ata!ograptus ata!us

/ere you need to explore the conse*uences of what you ha e deduced. 1. Gi e an example of a 4one identification that you were confident about. :hat made this a good set of fossils for this purposeD

2.

Gi e an example of a 4one identification that you were less confident about. :hat made this set of fossils less useful for dating rocksD

3. +n general terms$ can you list a set of criteria that make a particular fossil good or bad for use in biostratigraphyD

!. +n this example$ what conclusions can you draw about the fault blocksD "re there likely to be any repeated units$ or is each se*uence probably uni*ueD +s there a general pattern relating age to position in the fault set$ for example$ east9west or north9south. +f so$ what is itD